“Everyone who got where they are started where they were.”-John Maxwell
Its easy to look at people who have succeeded at a high level and think “well of course they succeeded, look at them.” At this point we are looking not just at what they have achieved, we are looking at what they have become. We are not accounting for where they came from, the struggles they endured, the doubts they overcame, the mistakes and failures they experienced on the way. Our perspective is limited to this moment in time. We are seeing the skills they have acquired and the assets they possess from the effort they put forth.
Instead of seeing at them as an inspiration, we might be looking at them as unattainable. Most successful people are far from overnight successes. The current person you see is an outcome of endless hours of effort when no one was noticing (because they weren’t a success yet). The truth is that they started in a situation that while it wasn’t like yours exactly, was representative of yours.
They were either inspired or desperate for a change. They had a dream. They acted on that dream and they focused in on making it happen. They could have come up with hundreds of reasons why someone like them couldn’t succeed. Instead they focused on the one reason why they could succeed. Instead of seeing what they couldn’t do, they focused on what they could do.
Jim Rohn said “the unique combination of desire, planning, effort, and perserverance will always work its magic. The question is not whether the formula for success will work, but rather whether the person will work the formula.”
They worked the formula. Just like you will. You will succeed. Just focus in and work the formula. You will have to set aside some things that are taking your time. This is called sacrifice. Maybe its watching less TV. Maybe its a little less social life. Maybe its less time playing video games. Only you know the things you do that are not getting you where you want to go. But you will set them aside when you want to succeed.
I love to fish, I enjoy golfing, and I like to travel to cool places. When I set my sights on building a big business, I set them aside. For several years I did them sparingly and invested myself in the effort to succeed. As a result, I reached a place where I can do them whenever I want to.
Do what you have to do when you have to do it and eventually you will be able to do whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it.
When you are outside on a warm sunny day, you can get a little sunburn from the sun. If you take a magnifying glass and focus the sunshine onto some leaves, you can start a fire with that same sun. This is what your focus can do.
Magnify your focus and you will succeed.
