Vancouver is one of THE most heavenly places on earth. Majestic mountains. A killer culinary scene. And a high likelihood of running into Ryan Reynolds. And yet….despite these incredible perks….it is also the city in which I lived through “apartment hell.” I had just graduated from UBC, and I was looking for a small 1-bedroom, close to the skytrain line. I was on a budget, and so as you can imagine, I was JACKED to find a basement suite for $500 a month. All in. I jumped at this “steal of a deal” and moved in within a few weeks…..only to discover that……things were a little too good to be true. First, it was the incessant vacuuming from the floor above. Three times a day. And sometimes at crazy hours of the night. Then it was the constant arguing from the suite next door, in a language I couldn’t understand (I’m guessing one or two of those arguments was about the habitual porn watching that was going on. Which……I could also hear). Cue the crying baby. Who….must have been teething. All of his teeth at once. Aaaaaannnnd top it all off with the crazy guy next door, who kept warning me that the KGB was spying on us. Every one of our conversations was allegedly being recorded. It was a tough slog. Yet, somehow I stayed for almost 2 years. Why? I have an uncanny ability to “stick it out” when the going gets tough. And I had a clear goal. I wanted to save as much money as I could. And I was willing to trudge through whatever it took to do so. And guys, the ability to hold strong…..the ability to endure, no matter what…..it is a key element of success. In whatever you do. You want to be successful? The strategy is simple. Do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do: push through the dip. The dip…..that moment when you start to think…..it would be so much easier just to throw in the towel right now. And whether it’s working out, eating well, getting up early, meditating, learning how to play the guitar, or building a relationship….. You push through the dip? You’ll achieve the results that most people will never see. Take ultra marathon runner Dick Collins, for instance. How does a guy like that keep going, despite fatigue, hunger, cramps, dehydration, and sheer exhaustion? “Decide before the race the conditions that will cause you to stop and drop out. You don’t want be out there saying, ‘Well gee, my leg hurts, I’m a little dehydrated, I’m sleepy, I’m tired, and it’s cold and windy.’ And talk yourself into quitting. If you are making a decision based on how you feel in that moment, you will probably make the wrong decision.” And that’s it right there. All too often, we make decisions based on how we FEEL IN THE MOMENT. Rather than what we want in the long-term. And so, if you want success, you need to find clarity on what your goals are FIRST. Chart your course. THEN embark on your journey. And know ahead of time that it ain’t gonna be smooth sailing to get there. It’s about taking action even when in that very moment…..you don’t feel like it. Because…..aha!…..this is the hard part. It is human nature to want to choose the familiar….the convenient….the easy. But if you are someone who truly wants to adventure through this life with everything you have, and become the BEST version of yourself…..you need to embrace the long-game, and stop doing what everyone else is doing: taking the path of least resistance. Understand this. The dip is coming. It is inevitable. And it won’t be fun. But guys, it is part of the climb. And it is the part where almost everyone gives up. If you can push through it, you will reap the rewards. And hey, along the way, you may even inadvertently acquire the filthiest dirty-talk vocabulary known to man (which may or may not then lead you to seriously consider launching a dirty-talk greeting card line). Maybe not all dips are as bad as they first appear to be.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
August 2020
Categories
All
|