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There’s an easy and a hard road to success.
The easy road requires years of blood, sweat and tears.
It requires discipline, focus and the ability to say no to immediate gratification so that you can say yes to long-term results.
It requires the capability to continually learn new skills and update knowledge.
And it requires taking risks that have no guarantees of a positive outcome.
If you’re anything like me, there are times when your feelings take over and have too much power over your actions.
You know what you should be doing, but you just don’t feel like it.
But if you want to be successful in any aspect of your life, you can’t let yourself become a prisoner of unhelpful feelings.
When you don’t feel like working, work hard anyway.
When you feel tempted to do the wrong thing, stay disciplined and on track.
Whilst researching with my son Hayden for his animal blog, we came across the term “vestigial.”
It’s a word that describes what happens to a particular body part when it goes unused for too long.
They become stunted, useless, atrophied.
If we’re not careful, our abilities can go down the same route.
We all have a unique combination of skills and capabilities that enable us to change the world in a positive way… but only if we actually use them.
Neale Daniher was a terrific footballer. A champion for the Essendon Football Club, his career was cut short by injuries, but his persistence and courage was a trademark.
He was a highly motivating coach. His fiery messages as coach of the Melbourne Football Club gave him the nickname, “The Reverend” and his players went to battle for him every week.
And away from football, Neale is highly regarded for his affable nature, warm smile, fierce loyalty to family and friends and sense of humour.
Tragically, last year he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) an insidious illness for which there is no cure and no treatment.
Recent research from San Diego State University found that when some of the larger whales species call to each other, they don’t hear the message, they feel it in their bones.
Wouldn’t it be great if we all communicated like that too?
If instead of just spouting words for people to hear, we delivered messages that truly connected?
If instead of researching facts, we shared stories?
It’s better to launch a business that fails, than successfully keep a dead-end job for 40 years.
It’s better to miss the potential game-winning shot, than cheer the winning team from the stands.
It’s better to make a movie that flops, than be a successful movie critic.
It’s better to write a blog about something that you’re passionate about that no-one reads, than to be a notorious on-line troll that everyone knows.
Every afternoon at about 3pm at my kids’ school, large numbers of very entrepreneurial ravens start to gather.
They know that after the playground has cleared, there are easy pickings of sandwiches, fruit or other goodies waiting for them.
My observant oldest son Hayden claims that he has even seen them use their beaks to open up lunchboxes so that they can get to the food within.
So they gather, they swoop and they feast.
What does that have to do with us I hear you ask?
I’ve met a lot of people who act and talk as though they are trapped.
This week our youngest children, Madison and Logan, have a school excursion.
It will be their first excursion without me coming along to help, so they are a bit nervous about the experience.
They’ve been to the venue in the past, so it won’t be completely foreign to them, but with an average weather forecast and without me, there have been a few conversations about it to ease their concerns.
Out of the blue, Logan said to me, “I don’t know if I’m going to have a good time, but I hope that I do and I think that I will.”
What a great line from a 7 year-old!
The US Marines use the line, “To observe a Marine is inspirational, to be a Marine is to be exceptional.”
We live in a world where it’s easy to be inspired by the activities of others.
Athletes who overcome fourth quarter deficits to win play-off games.
Entrepreneurs who develop innovative ideas to overcome everyday problems.
Leaders who provide direction and vision during periods of adversity.
There’s a quote that’s often attributed to Mark Twain that says:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
In 20 years time, will you be glad that you took action towards your goals, or will you regret doing nothing?
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