I hated every minute of training, but I said: ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life a champion.
Nobody said it would be easy but I must say that life feels much better when you put in the effort required to create a success.The late, great Muhammad Ali certainly didn’t achieve legendary status by staying in a comfort zone either inside or outside the ring. If you want things to work out well in your life neither should you.
I’m not suggesting for a minute that you hit the gym with a goal to becoming a world beater, but don’t stay on the couch because you think it’s too much trouble to get up. Do what you can to help achieve your goals and then try a little of what you think you can’t do. The key to success is to push your perceived boundaries and surprise yourself by making new ones all the time. Before long boundaries will seem more like challenges that you relish smashing head-on.
My business involves running a franchise from home and I must admit that it is one which has been fraught with challenges, especially in the beginning. Thankfully I stuck out the hard times during the business’ infancy by putting in many hours, weeks and months of dedicated graft. The results have been out of this world.
When things were tough I kept telling myself to banish the excuses for not hitting targets, making calls, attending meetings and everything else that comes with running a business.
I suffered but didn’t quit. There are days when I suffer still – that’s business, that’s life, that’s actually all part and parcel of the buzz that keeps us going. Quitting is not, and should never be, an viable option.
History has shown us repeatedly that those who achieve the most are those who can endure the most. And while running a business from home is hard, those who endure can create their own empire from their children’s playroom or kitchen worktop if they really put their minds to it, focus and work hard.
Advice that I found useful when work seemed too much was to break it all down into bite-sized pieces. By becoming task orientated and not being distracted by the mountain you need to climb you can always focus on the next few steps you need to take. Before long you will find that the pieces will fit together to meet your challenge and help you achieve your overall goal.
So instead of reaching for the easiest excuse, place your most difficult challenges in your sights and focus on the piecing together your plan to overcome it.
Believe you can achieve and any notions of quitting can be easily banished.
Buy suffering a little in business and rising above it we may not all enjoy the same levels of success as the great Ali but we can at least become champions of our own lives.
