Short term gratification or long term sucess.

Repost "Do you want it bad enough?"

I posted this several months ago and just the other day ran across it again.  I had to repost it.  Enjoy!

There was a Young Man who wanted to make a lot of money and so he went to an Old Guru and said, "I want to be on the same level you are."

So the Guru says, "If you want to be on the same level I am, I'll meet you at the beach tomorrow morning. 4 AM."

The Young Man looking confused says, "The beach?? I don't wanna swim, I wanna make money!"

"4 AM."

 The Young Man gets to the beach at 4 AM, all ready to rock and roll, wearing a suit - should have wore shorts -  and the Old Guru walks up to great him and grabs his hand. He asks, "How bad do you want to be successful?"

The Young Man excited states, "Real bad!"

"Then walk out into the water."

So the Young Mann starts walking out into the water. About waist deep he starts thinking to himself 'This man must be crazy!', but he continues to walks out. "Hey I wanna make money and you got me out here swimming. I didn't ask to be a lifeguard. I wanna make money!"

The Guru looks at him and says, "Come out a little farther."

The Young Man walks out a little farther. The water is up to his throat. Now he's thinking 'This man is crazy, I mean -  he's makin' money, but he's crazy!', but he keeps walking out. The water is up to his mouth now and his mind is racing 'I'm about to go back in, this guy is out of his mind!', and he turns around.

The Old Guru yells to him and says, "I thought you wanted to be successful?"

"I do," says the Young Man.

"Then walk a little further."

So the Young Man starts to walk out a little farther and the Old Guru grabs his head and puts it under the water. He holds him down and I mean he has him held down. The Young Man is scratching and clawing at him. The Old Guru keeps holding him down. Holding him down. Then right as the Young Man is about to pass out, gently the Old Guru raises him up. The Guru looks at him and says, "I got a question for you... when you were under water, what did you want?"

"I wanted to breathe."

"Now when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you will be successful." And with that the Old Guru released the Young Man and began walking to shore.

 

Such a simple concept but so powerful.  So many times in my life, I thought I wanted something... but I didn't really want it, I just thought I did.  Looking back I can understand that because things would come up: friends would call, I would get tired, I would get lazy.  When things came up, the thing that I thought I wanted most now became second.  We have to evaluate ourselves and ask ourselves how bad we really want it!  Then after verbally answering the question, go prove it to yourself!

It's your choice.



Are you considered "successful"?

 

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."

-Bill Cosby

 

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him."

-David Brinkley

 

"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it."

-Bruce Lee

 

Few quotes today... Loved them all so I decided to share them.  So this word... success... what is it?  Everyone talks about how when they grow up they want to be "successful."  We also tend to classify others on the fact that they are "successful."  I guess on a statistical standpoint maybe you could judge this, but even then, who gets to decide where that line of success really is.  Here are my thoughts on the matter...

 

Do I really care if, according to other people, I am classified as a successful man?  No.  I care about how I feel about myself as well as the day I will stand before God.  That is what is important to me.  That is what I will strive for.  At the end of the day, if Sally says I did a really good job on my test or on my workout, but I don't feel satisfied, I will be grateful for the wonderful compliment, but I am going to work my tail off to make sure I will feel satisfied with my results next time.  On the flip side, if Bill says I need to work harder to help get the unwanted pounds off or to make more money, but I am extremely satisfied with my results, I will not let that be the reason I beat myself up and put myself down.  At the end of the day I want to look in the mirror and know I tried my absolute hardest.  I want to know I left nothing in the tank and I gave it my all.  If I do this, there is no possible way I will ever consider myself unsuccessful.  I may not bench press the amount I was hoping for or I may not score the 98% I was hoping for, but if I give it my all and don't hold back, whatever my results may be... I will be happy.  I will be successful.  Best of luck, my friends.

Do something today.

"I need to be doing something. If I am sitting down, I feel like I am wasting time, and someone else is doing something. If I am not working, someone else is, and someone else is getting better... and I can't have that."

-Rich Froning

 

Whether you decide to get up and do something today or not, I can promise that someone else is, and they are getting that much closer, that much better.  Now your dreams may not involve anyone else... it may be you against you... but if you do not get up and go do something to get you that much closer, who is winning?  How can we win if we are not willing to get up and do something, anything?  So your challenge today... go do something!  Best of luck, my friends.

Spot checking our attitude.

So...  you might be seeing a trend in the last few posts.  Attitude.  Outlook.  Point of view.  However you want to word it...  On a daily basis we will not be able to make the progress that we want to see unless our outlook on life is in a position to let us progress.  So before we can continue on this journey, let us take another opportunity to check ourselves and make sure we are not hindering our own progression.  Let us also keep in mind that this should not be the only time we evaluate our attitude.  This should start to become a very common thing.  Best of luck, my friends.

It's not just another day.

Was today just another day?  Feeling like you are just stuck in a routine and nothing new ever happens?  It doesn't have to be that way.  A little while ago I talked about waking up every day and deciding if you were going to have a good day or a bad day.  This is a very similar concept.  When you are just having "another day," don't focus on that.  Find something that was different or open your eyes to find the amazing little small things that we pass by every day. 

 

Here is an example for you: I drive 30ish miles to work in the morning.  This means I have to wake up a little earlier to make sure I have enough time to get there with morning traffic.  I use to find myself silently grumbling about this every morning and how I wish I could just sleep in.  I was put in a situation where it didn't really matter what I thought, I still had to get up and go to work.  One day I happen to notice how amazing the sunrise was that morning.  I then thought to myself, "have I been missing this every day???"  From that point on I now think of my drive as I chance for me to admire how beautiful this earth is and it now gives me a chance to reflect on my life and even connect with God.

 

You will be put in routines and situations where you don't have a lot of control.  The only thing we can always control is our thoughts and our point of view on our particular situation.  Try this tomorrow, see if you can tell a difference.  Best of luck, my friends.