Success is not a one-time deal. It’s a habit. If you truly want to be successful, you have to put in the work . . . continuously. Remember, endurance is important on this road to accomplishment. If you are pursuing your passions, then the effort shouldn’t bother you at all. It will be enjoyable.
Great athletes do not become successful by accident. They practice their skills over and over. They train like crazy to be the best—but they love the work, so all that sweat is worth it. Are you putting some sweat into your success? Are you practicing daily to achieve your dreams? Or do you still think success will be a one-time event that hits you over the head like a giant hammer when you least expect it?
Unfortunately, the things that sum you up are not the result of a one-time explosion of achievement. You are what you repeatedly do. If you repeatedly eat Twinkies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then you can call yourself a creampuff. On the other hand, if you are in the habit of reading trade journals in your field of interest and applying what you learn to your day-to-day activities, then you are practicing excellence.
Your task today is to add one thing to your routine that you can do every day to practice success. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. A few options might be to get up a half hour early and practice meditation, hit the gym, take a continuing education class, or sign up for volunteer work with an organization you admire. Small steps taken continuously will get you miles ahead on the road to success.
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Another important thing to consider when focusing on your endurance is the truth. If you are about to run a marathon, you make sure you have a really good pair of shoes. You want those shoes to be made with the best material that will stand up through the continual beating they’re going to take when your feet hit the road. Durability is infinitely more important than speed.
Similarly, you cannot build your journey to success on lies. A lie might provide you with a shortcut, it might look flashy and take you somewhere very fast, but it is not made of sturdy material. It will not stand the test of time, and soon it will be worthless on the road to success.
Assemble your success with sturdy materials. Make sure you have a strong foundation built in truth. That means if you don’t understand how to do something or you don’t have the necessary skills, the first thing you need to do is admit it. Be honest about your limitations, and be willing to learn new things and practice until you have the level of proficiency you need. That might take some time, but it is worth it. You are building a really sturdy pair of shoes for your success marathon.
Today’s homework is fun. Pull out those crayons, markers, or colored pencils again, and draw your pair of shoes. You are preparing to enter the success marathon. What do you want your shoes to look like? What will they be made of? Let your imagination go crazy with this assignment.
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Endurance equals victory. Have you ever thought of it that way? You might equate endurance with something that is tedious, boring, and painful. Do you think if endurance is involved the event is going to be long and hard? You may be partially right. But what is the outcome? If you endure, that means you make it through. You win! You’re still standing at the end of the game. Endurance will lead you to glory, so it’s a trait you want to cultivate.
Another great thing about endurance is that it is a real achievement. It is never handed to you. It requires some sort of effort. If you endured something, you took it all the way to the end. You followed through, and you should be congratulated. You did not quit; you did not give up. You continued on to victory.
Is there anything going on in your life today that is unresolved? Is your endurance being tested in any area of your life right now? Write about that specific experience. How do you plan to endure? Imagine how great you will feel when you make it to the conclusion of this part of your journey. What a victory it will be! The outcome doesn’t matter. What matters is that you carried through to the end. You played the game until the final buzzer. That alone makes you a success.
Consider how you can use endurance to turn the hard things in your life into glory. How can you win simply by never giving up? What can you do to make sure you go all the way to the finish line?
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All of this talk of endurance makes the road to success sound very arduous, doesn’t it? Are you starting to think that maybe success is not all it’s cracked up to be? Maybe you don’t really want to run a marathon. You’re not built for that kind of test. You prefer short walks to epic adventures.
There is good news for you today. You don’t have to attack this journey in its entirety. Break it down into those short walks. Travel a little bit at a time. You can run this marathon in a series of small jaunts. Take whatever
