“The Natural” is rare.
My granddaughter is a natural athlete. At nine-years-old, and in her first year of competitive soccer, she scores the most goals in her team.
Her coach says she’s likely in the top 1% of girls her age in Kansas City.
I say that she’s a natural because she doesn’t practice other than her regular team practices. No “soccer camp” or private coaching. Not even kicking the ball around the yard after school.
We’re amazed because most of us aren’t natural athletes.
Can I hire someone to workout for me?
Can you relate to this? For most of my life I always looked for the “easy button.”
I wanted to be in shape and healthy and at my ideal weight. At least that’s the story I told myself.
But I didn’t want to work very hard to get in shape or change how much I ate. Any effort I made to change my life was only half-assed. I did just enough to tell myself that I’d at least tried . . . again . . . and failed.
How much do you want air?
You may have heard the story of the student who asked the guru how to find success. The teacher led the student out into the ocean and then held him underwater.
After repeated dunking, the teacher told the student, “When you want success as much as you want air you will have success.”
Napoleon Hill says much the same in his book Think and Grow Rich.
“You must have a white-hot passion to get rich,” he says.
Because you need passion in your life.
I want everyone to have success and to be rich! I want that for me too.
Above all, I want you to know that success and riches are about more than mere money and achievements. You know deep inside that money and status won’t make you any happier.
Don’t get me wrong! Poverty isn’t noble. It’s awful!
Passion for life, along with money and accomplishments are what makes for a rich life.
So turn up the power for what you want.
Last time I talked about how silly it is to make New Year Resolutions we expect to never keep. What good does it do to set yourself up to fail?
First you have to decide what you want. This is the place most Resolutions and goals fail. We all tend to make wishes rather than decisions. Make a decision that you want it.
Second you have to add passion to your decision. Because passion drives action.
Think about how the student feels when the teacher holds his head under water. You’re not operating from logic. This isn’t an intellectual exercise.
Logic and passion are a potent mix.
The reason so many Resolutions and goals fail is that we decide with our intellect. You know what’s good for you. You know what you “should and shouldn’t” be doing. But logic alone isn’t enough. You need passion . . . your emotions. Commander Spock of Star Trek is fiction. You will remain stuck if you don’t engage your emotions for what you want.
There is no “easy button.”
You can hire a coach. You can study. You can watch training videos. But you have to run your own miles. You have to do your own workouts. No one can do it for you.
The same thing goes for developing your mental strength as well.
The thing is that your mindset is what will make or break your success for getting in shape and eating what’s good for you.
But most of us do even less work on training our minds than we do our bodies.
So you have a choice. Leave your Resolutions in the dustbin and forget about doing anything different this year. Because . . . you know . . . it’s not easy.
On the other hand, you can make this year your best ever. All it takes is a little “want to” mixed with a dash of passion. The good news is this: You don’t have to almost drown to find success.
