It’s been said that a winner is just someone who would never quit. I believe that is true. If we relentlessly pursue out goals, even with occasional setbacks, we will succeed. The deciding factor is how sincere our efforts are and how willing we are to continue them. In her article, “The Secret of What Makes a Winner”, Dr. Marie Hartwell Walker defines “winning” as working at something that is important to you, accepting setbacks and failures but not giving up, striving for excellence, and not giving up until the outcome is excellence. That makes sense. Almost no one takes a direct path to the top. There are detours. The trick is to get back on the route, accelerate and go farther this time than you did before the detour. Just don’ t stop and for heaven’s sake don’t turn around!
When life interferes with our goals, the temptation is to change those goals, to change our route, to stop at the local Giant Peach and Dew Drop Inn instead of pressing on to the glittering white sands of Destin and the Palazzo del Mar. The problem is, we’ll never be satisfied with the Giant Peach, and the Dew Drop Inn is pretty low on amenities…. Why would we stop short when the misery of falling short is much harder to bear than enduring in our quest for excellence to the ultimate goal. The Ultimate Goal is a fluctuating point in time and space because we are pursuing a lifestyle, a state of being with absolute markers but the goal is constantly moving ahead, leading us on, prodding us when we get weary, flaunting itself, teasing us like the haunting Sirens of Greek mythology, all the while, morphing us into our most outrageously happy self.
To quit courting this idyllic vision is senseless because we will have lost our Muse. We will have lost touch with what drives us, what makes us focus, what pushes us to the edge. How do we sustain our mojo when all hell breaks loose in our psyche? We already know. Do healthy. Do what we KNOW works. Do it over. Do it again. Get up. Work out. Hell, just work, period, work HARD, over and over and over. Face the setbacks with fury and determination knowing that we WILL have our heart’s desire because we are willing to work for it.
There is a key element here, however that is quite often overlooked. It’s simply knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt exactly what we want. If we waver, we won’t succeed. We may appear to be successful to others because all that work will produce some results, results that are visible and pleasing but if we waver in our goals, we will waver in our pursuit of those goals. The goals will change and our efforts will become less than effective because of deviation. We can’t want blue walls one day and red walls the next. Our houses will look like an insane asylum. The same is true with Nutrition/Wellness/ Health/ Beauty goals. If we want to be a size 4 one day and a size 10 the next we may never be either because confusion will reign and our focus will slip because we are not looking at an ultimate ending. We won’t coordinate our lives and activities to produce anything specific and we will never attain excellence. Without clarity and focus we will make progress and then stall over and over, possibly completely losing sight of our best self, settling for something far removed from our potential.
There are forces in the world that seek to distract us from our mission. Jealousy, envy and strife manipulate many people, including those closest to us and if we are not completely dedicated with our eye on the prize, these poisonous asps will strike us dead in the water and leave our dreams and visions to die on the shore in the sun. It is a well known truth that we can’t be in two places at the same time. We must choose our position, dig in and refuse to give up ground to anyone, including ourselves.
These truths apply to men and women equally but Ladies, we have our own special brand of dissension producing, anxiety originator and self-esteem devourer…The Media. Let. Us. Pray. … and pray some more…but don’t pray too long because you’ve gotta get up and work your ass off to rival the airbrushed, app altered, cosmetically enhanced, illusion of perfection that is thrust at us constantly as if perfection exists anywhere. Some of the models for these images are unrecognizable in their natural state and many kill themselves because their worth has been directly linked to a complete falsehood. They will never live up to the standard that they have helped perpetuate and the agony of falling short of your own illusion/delusion can be more than some can bear. These people die everyday. Deception is deadly and no truer form of deception exists than the artificially produced visions of perfection that are shoved down our throats on a daily basis. To be successful in our goals it is mandatory to make sure that we are pursuing OUR goals, not these Delusions of Grandeur. Constantly attempting an impossible task takes our drive away because well, it’s impossible, and we will grow weary and quit. Set realistic goals. Work. Work harder. Don’t stop until you see exactly who and what you want to be emerge from the shadows.
We have one life. Let’s get this right. Let’s light up the night. Let’s feel the love. Let’s be so fierce and dedicated to our cause that we have to succeed. Nobody is going to do it for us, except us. Now tell me…what do you want? Are you certain? You have to be certain. Are you willing to work for it? Are you willing to be disliked for it? Are you willing to step outside of your comfort zone and just be real with yourself? If so then ask yourself this, ” Will your current actions get you your ultimate goals?” If not, correct your course, now. Shangri-La awaits, a place of contentment that few will find. The only ones who will enter are the ones who DON’T. QUIT. Now, go , work hard, be true to yourself, keep your eye on the prize and score the crown. Your Kingdom awaits. ;-*