The Real Key to Success

You weren’t fast enough, smart enough, strong enough, clever enough, or funny enough.  The voice inside got louder as you tried something new or worked at making a change.

You weren’t fast enough, smart enough, strong enough, clever enough, or funny enough.  The voice inside got louder as you tried something new or worked at making a change.  With your eyes on the goal you tried to do better and do more each time.  You were committed and motivated and in the beginning it worked. You saw progress and it inspired you to do more. You had your eyes on the goal and put maximum effort in.
 
Unfortunately, it didn’t last. You had a couple of days of setbacks. You started to question whether you were doing everything correctly. You trudged on while gritting your teeth. You started to wear down. Your results weren’t at all what you were looking for so you took a break.  Finally, you went right back to your old thinking and doing and lost all ground you previously gained.
 
We live in a goal oriented society where we feel it’s appropriate to celebrate only when we win.  We are competitive and constantly climbing the rungs of the ladder of achievement.  It perpetuates the stop start cycle of defeat and disappointment.  Sometimes we give up before we even start, sure we’ll fall trap to the familiar plight.
 
Next time, try pivoting slightly for maximum impact.  Change your measurement of success to effort instead of achievement. When you consider real effort as a reason to celebrate, check the box and motivate you begin to build consistency. Over time real effort is what it takes to sustain forward movement. Next time you set your eyes on a worthy goal think about what type of effort it will take to make this happen.  Create benchmarks along the way that reinforce your ability to continually put in real effort verses your ability to achieve more.   Reinforce your continual effort by asking yourself one question every night that has you answering yes or no. Yes you put in the effort or no you didn’t. Tracking effort is important because in time you’ll develop new habits and lasting change.  If you don’t put in the effort you’ll have to consider if it’s really worth doing at all.
 
“What you do all of the time is more important than what you do some of the time.”
​~ Mark LeBlanc