Happy Tuesday! We are officially towards the end of March, can you believe it? How many of you have stuck with your New Year's Resolutions thus far? ;) Just teasing, let's get to today's topic...
The point of this discussion today is to write about overnight successes and the automatic "box's" or categories we put people in. I guarantee that anyone that is reading this has judged someone inappropriately at least once in their lives. Why is that? Well, it is all too common within the human brain that when we face a particular struggle in our lives; i.e. financial, love, spiritual, career, etc., that is where we are putting most of our energy towards. Thus, pulling our attention towards others that are either in a similar boat as us or towards those that have what we want ultimately.
For example...how many times have you been on a diet, failed for reasons X, Y and Z, then notice your peers or close friends and wonder, "having that body must come so easy." Eventually developing excuses for that failure as, "they just have better genetics than I do. Losing weight was easier for them than me. They have more money than me to eat healthier." While, never living in their home and seeing their daily routines and struggles they may be going through to achieve and maintain their own goals.
To all my fellow weightlifting friends; we all love to watch our favorite athletes compete and push through their heavy max out lifts and wish we could do the same. Yet, once we get the inside scoop of everything that particular athlete does to get up to that particular max lift such as extended warm ups, active recovery sessions, physical therapy, watching back videos, seeking expert advice, accessory work, fine tuning their lifts with technical empty bar movement sessions, etc., we make an excuse as to why we can't lift the same weight....genetics, steroids, time commitment, money?!
The wifey and I get comments from our peers, almost on an annoyingly frequent basis, regarding how things seem to come easy for us and how we have it all together while we couldn't possibly understand the struggles others are going through.
Hmm...Are you sure about that?!?!
I've come to learn a few things over time as an entrepreneur for the last 6 years, those being...
1. People only see and hear what they want to.
2. Those same people love to criticize but at the same time, disturbingly idolize your position.
3. Individuals love to focus on the highlight reel while never considering the hard work and sacrifices it takes to get there.
Newsflash, we all have struggles! Any amount of success, big or small, comes with it a certain amount of sacrifice and GRIT necessary to overcome and MAINTAIN that achievement. This goes for a successful relationship or marriage, career, financial position, spiritual life, parenthood, etc.
What people need to start doing is stop filling their minds with excuses on why they can't have the same achievements and realize that real success involves getting away from the TV, phones, bars, excuses, etc. and requires a game plan! A short and long term goals list with a well developed plan with help from a mentor (and accountability buddy) on how to get to wherever it is that you want to go.
The real reason why things appear easy for my wife and I is for a few reasons...
1. We keep our noses down and work hard EVERYDAY, making the most out of every 24 hour cycle.
2. We rest when needed to recharge the batteries either physically or mentally.
3. We keep our goals and our WHY visual on the walls so we see them and that motivates us, especially me when my alarm goes off at 3:35am some mornings.
4. We manage our time well for work and MAKE TIME with each other a priority each night, not just for a random "date night."
5. We seek out mentors and accountability buddies to keep us in check while we are struggling, or even succeeding so we don't begin to idolize our achievements.
6. We never blast our personal business to the public on social media. If there is a problem, it gets resolved between us, in person, inside our home. Facebook isn't the place to air out your dirty laundry!
7.. Most importantly, we live with Christ FIRST in our hearts and try our hardest to follow by His example. Do we succeed in this everyday, no, but our goal is to constantly improve little by little each day.
So, what do you do now with this information? Well, a great first step would be to WRITE DOWN your goals, small and big. Then, after writing down what your goals are, write out the plan you'll need to achieve each of them. What are the daily, weekly and monthly habits you would need to develop to achieve these goals? GET DETAILED!
Give yourself time for this, this isn't something you'll be able to jot down in a journal in 5 minutes, maybe not even 20 minutes! Then, GET HONEST WITH YOURSELF. No one knows your attitude and drive more than you do so be realistic. Just because someone achieved their respected goal in two months doesn't mean you HAVE to do the same. This is a competition only against yourself to improve yourself. This isn't a competition where the faster accomplisher achieves a bigger prize. NEVER COMPARE YOURSELF! How much time will you or can you commit to each day towards achieving this goal?
Also, very important tip...you can have every goal you want imaginable, but you can only realistically work on maybe 1-2 goals at any particular moment so don't overwhelm yourself, this isn't a sprint to change your life overnight! One of the most common reasons people quit on their goals is because they get overwhelmed. Work on one thing at a time if need be and remember what I said, no one knows your attitude and drive better than you so be real!
That's enough from me today, time to get back to work ;) Love you all and I hope you receive this message into your hearts and it drives you to move your live's forward in a positive direction. If any of you are seeking accountability or other forms of help during this time, never hesitate to reach out!
God Bless,
Taz