Chapter 95
Fall Down - Get Up, Fall Down - Get Up
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Today's Empowering Quote
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"Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th."
-J. Andrews ------------------------------
Today's Empowering Question
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"Isn't there something else I can try to get the job done?"
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Today's Fast Session
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Awesome message today!!!!
It seems like at every turn, we get confirmation that some
thing that we're working on or something that we want to
happen isn't going to go quite like we planned. I mean,
doesn't it seem like no matter what you're doing- homework,
yard work, packing for a trip, fixing a broken 'something-
or-other,' that it takes longer than you planned or might
not work at all?
And doesn't it get you really upset to invest a whole lot
of time into something and watch it all go 'Poof!' before
your eyes? Many of us have been conditioned to believe that easy is
best. We're surrounded by examples of this everywhere:
- Why buy the walk-behind mower when you can get a
riding one?
- Stand up to change channels? Just use the remote!
- Why chop, slice and cook fresh food when ready-to-cook and frozen is available?
- Exercise to lose fat? I'll just get liposuction
someday.
- Adopt healthy eating habits? No way-I'll just pop
this diet pill or magic herb to lose weight.
- Go to counseling or take other self-help measures to
feel upbeat? It's easier just to pop an anti-depressant everyday.
Now don't get me wrong, there may be instances where these
"conveniences" could be necessary. Someone may need to use
a riding mower if they have leg problems and cannot walk to
mow the lawn. Someone may be helped by an anti-depressant
in conjunction with therapy following the death of a loved
one. But for the most part, the conveniences that surround our
lives are the result of, and help perpetuate, the "easy is
best" mindset. If it's tough, requires hard work or takes
a long time, many people run and hide!
It doesn't help at all, does it, that the images we see on
television show problems getting solved in 30 seconds, or
at worst 60 minutes? So when our own problems take days,
weeks and years to solve, it's too tempting to give up.
Call it quits... ...long before we should.
It's sad, but many of us, (and I was a part of this group
until my mid twenties), "learn" that things don't go our
way, usually. We believe that nothing is easy. And since
"easy is best," why bother?
In short, we settle.
Eating right, for example, would require discipline.
Can't have that. It's not easy or fun. So we "settle" for
being not that fat and indulge in fast food.
Concentrating and studying would earn A's and B's, but it
means ignoring all the fun things we could be doing right
now. So, we "settle" for just passing grades instead.
Having a vice like a drink or smoke comforts us when we do
try something and fail...like we knew we would.
But it doesn't matter what age you are--you can start now
to begin learning how rewarding and exhilarating it can be
to shoot for something big. Here's how.
Give yourself guideposts along the way. If your goal has
20 steps, write down what each of them are. When you reach
each one, it's time for a little celebration.
How likely would you be to give up and quit after you
reached a guidepost and it's time to celebrate? Not very,
huh? Let's say you wanted to run 3 miles per day, 5 days per
week. Look at the existing patterns-can't even walk 50
feet without being out of breath. OK.
One guidepost could be to go for a 20-minute stroll
without getting out of breath. After doing this for a
week, you notice you're no longer getting winded. It's
time to celebrate!
Smile. Write down how you feel right now. Ask yourself
how you did it. Write down the answer. And smile some
more. Laugh if you want!
So you go a little longer now-30 minutes. Once you have
that down, you maybe pick up the pace from a stroll to a
brisk stride. Then you extend your time to 40 minutes.
And so on. One guidepost after another...
And let's say that you've done well for two whole months,
and then you try to jog instead of walk and get all out of
breath, sore and tired. Did you fail?
Listen: Making mistakes ISN'T failure. Failure is
quitting. So did you fail? No. With a qualifier. You
can't fail if you continue trying, and if you attempt to
learn something from your setback. In this case, you just
tried to do too much too soon.
When I started climbing out of the hole I'd dug for myself
in life, it seemed like I "failed" even more than before.
I fell down a lot. After all, I was used to failing...really failing.
And it hurt. Really bad sometimes.
But the big difference was that I quit quitting. I
started learning what I was doing wrong and corrected it.
And failing some more. And learning. And succeeding. And
failing and learning and succeeding again.
And I'm telling you that the procedure that I just shared
with you is an often used formula of success in all areas
of life. Millions of people have done this. Millions are
doing it today to change their lives right now.
You can, too.
Pick a goal. Doesn't matter what it is. Apply the
formula. And when you're tempted to quit, look back at the
guideposts that you've passed. Smile. Cry. And get
excited... ...Because you're on the right path.
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Today's Winning Beliefs
---------------------------- -- I get back up and keep trying after a setback
-- I learn from every non-success
-- When I succeed, I ask how I did it and learn from it
-- At every setback, I ask why it happened and learn from it
-- All my goals give me the chance to succeed many times at
many stages
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