9 is not 10

If you're reading this, there's a high probability you have something you're currently working toward. Be it knowledge, fitness or financial, there is something you've envisioned in your future you want to achieve. If you're serious about it, you've put some plan into place that involves a step by step process all the way to the end goal.

Let's say, for example, your goal for 2018 was to read 12 books( one per month ) which a realistic and achievable goal. Before the year started, you did some math to work out how many pages you need to read per day. You come to the conclusion that you would need to read 10 pages per day to achieve this.

Easy right? Sure, starting anything is easy but sticking at it consistently for a long period is a different story. What would the result be at the end of the year if you dropped off your daily target to 9, 8, 7 or 0 pages per day? Well, you're not going to achieve reading 12 books in the year that's for sure.

I have done similar to the above example countless times for past goals and each time, the result was mediocre. Falling short of my initial goal and left wallowing in a pool of self-pity.

What I was doing was quite simple. I was cheating on my own game! Just bending the daily strategy slightly to suit how I was feeling on the day. The goals I had and the strategy to attain them was all silent, so if I bent a rule here and there, who would know? Only me and I had an excuse for everytime to justify it.

The more I cheated, the more I cheated until this behaviour became ingrained in me. The only issue with this is that I never achieved any goals. Start something, cheat, give up, repeat. No one knew, so everyone was happy, right?

Not really. Turns out, doing this for an extended period just left me feeling like nothing was achievable. I just gave up and let the world sway me in whichever way it pleased for a while until one day, I had enough.

I set out to figure it out. I started watching, reading and following people who had similar stories. I became fascinated by the story. Fascinated by stories of progressing from extreme poverty to extreme wealth. Stories of progressing from dangerously poor health to extreme fitness. Stories of musicians playing on street corners to entertaining thousands.

One thing started to stand out to me from their stories - I had no $#%&$%@ excuse! Their stories were so radical that it made the excuses I was using look like a joke. This was humbling but at the same time also motivating.

I realized that there were people from 100X worse backgrounds than me achieving 100X greater things than me.

Another thing stood out to me, faith. They all told stories of how even in the deepest, darkest moments of their life, they believed without a doubt that one day their lives would be different. They held onto that belief until it materialized.

In conclusion

So whatever your goal is today, that maybe seems impossible, know that it can be yours. Will it be easy? NO. Will it be painful? YES. Will you have to work your butt off for a long time before you see any result? YES.

How do I know? .............FAITH

Sincerely @builtinfire