The great things in life don’t come easy and they really shouldn’t. There are some goals that are set that are tough to reach and they are tough for a reason. Obstacles can often be put in place to keep other people from achieving your goal, not just you. Sacrifices big and small need to be made in order to reach the places you strive to reach especially when it comes to the goals that are most important to you. If you give up on them easily then maybe they weren’t as important to you as originally anticipated.
Through years of practice and hard work we are told that goals can be achieved. Sometimes as coaches we work with players they act as though they have already achieved the heights they are looking to reach without putting in the work. They don’t hustle as hard as they could, they get lost in the details and they forget to ask questions to learn more or clarify. These players walk into the gym complacent and uninspired. There is more to it than just simply putting in time. Inmates in prison put in time. There is a rule that talks about the learning process taking 10,000 hours to become an expert. Simply collecting the 10,000 hours just to do it isn’t enough though. You have to find ways to stand out, be different and really own it.
Part of the process of achieving goals involves periods of struggle and discomfort. This might mean going through times when you may be putting in work and you aren’t quite sure if all you are doing is really going to pay off in the end. It is learning to dig deep and find a way to make results. You see there are prices to pay for doing what you are passionate about and not giving up. Those prices come in the form of uncertainty and often without a solid concrete path to follow at every single turn. The struggle is what provides the strength so when you are in that position you can stay there. This also helps in the process of wherever you end up as well. Sometimes it is about trusting the process and not having everything handed over easily.
Other times it is about outright failure and picking yourself up to find the lesson which will help you on the next phase of the journey. For the most high profile teams sometimes every member of the team has been cut at one point before actually making it. Sometimes you see that happen with teams where they fail one year to get to the championship and then use that as motivation to get there the next year.
When I face things that are challenging, difficult or downright painful I always try to remind myself that if it were easy everyone would do it. There is nothing easy about putting yourself out there or grinding it out every single day in order to get better. But, the proof of success is in habits as well as in the results. To put it all into your goals and see what comes of it. I love the quote by Seneca which sums this up perfectly “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
Whenever it takes a long time to achieve something you really want you cherish it way more anyways.
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