The Ultimate Investment

As you work toward the achievement of your goals, you need to realize that obstacles will inevitably step out to block your way.  Don’t complain about these problems.  Recognize them for the blessings they are.  Or you can end up like the bad example below:

Mike is pretty smart.  Actually, he is brilliant.  But what has he done with that brilliance? Absolutely nothing.  You see, Mike has never held a job for more than eight months.  His longest job was as a manager of a convenience store.  The odd thing is that he is never fired.  He just up and quits.  When asked why he does this, he always blames someone else.  “The store owner was just doing everything wrong, and I couldn’t stand it,” he’d say.  Or, “I just got tired of doing all the work and not getting paid for it.”

When asked what he wanted out of life, he was quick to point out that he wanted a nice car, a big house, and lots of money.  When asked if he’d ever sat down and tried to plan out how he could get those things.  He’d look back with a blank stare.  “You mean set goals don’t you.”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” I’d reply.

“I’ve tried that before and it never works.”

“Oh?  Why is that?” I pressed.

“Because whenever I set goals, I take all that effort to list them out, and then I’m bored, and never work on them.”

That was his problem.  Setting goals will never work for him unless he works his goals.  Mike did right, up to a point, but never had what it took to follow through.  He had three big obstacles.  First, he wasn’t willing to reach for the person he could really become. Second he wasn’t willing to do what was necessary to achieve what he wanted. And third he didn’t know within himself he could ever be anything different than he was — even though for someone as smart as he, it wouldn’t have been hard at all. 

If his success didn’t come quickly, and take only a little bit of effort (or better yet, if he couldn’t get someone else to do the work for him), then he quit trying.  He gave up.

You grow and stretch your abilities through striving and struggle.  If you aren’t moving forward, actively overcoming trials, you stagnate.  The struggle brings fulfillment every bit as much as the success.  Norman Vincent Peale, the best-selling author of “The Power of Positive Thinking” once said, “If you don’t have any problems, you’re dead.  You’re six feet under.”  You should be grateful for the problems because that means you’re still alive.  You still have a chance.

The feeling of satisfaction and growth you’ll get from actually striving for and achieving an important goal will be an experience from which you’ll always gather joy and strength. It’s the striving which makes you who are.

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