Why Getting A "Break" On The Journey To Success Can Hinder Your Future
We live in a world where everyone wants a 'break'. A leap forward. A lucky push.
They want to shorten the journey, go through less pain and hit the finish line in less time. Can you imagine this at the Olympic Games? On this side of the team we have people who sweat drops of blood for their game. They practiced while others played, they believed when others gave up, they ate, drank and slept their vision until it finally came to pass. Here they stand, ready contenders in the race of their sport. On the other side we have people who just arrived to the game location. They were taken through escalated security, weren't required to practice as much and were only registered to the sport just weeks before. They are side by side with the committed players, the people who lived their dream and the people who pushed ahead, manipulating their way there, seeking a lucky break, and preferential treatment. I don't think so! THANK GOD this isn't how it goes.
I was involved in competitive bodybuilding in my twenties. I then trained athletes for many years in a private gym on how to gain weight, lose weight, get striations in their muscle, have perform form, and master their sport. My many hours, double sessions and extreme committment won me several trophies!
There were always people who wanted to push forward, without working hard, to win a trophey. Most times, they ended up with an injury, illness or some other tragedy because their muscles and strength were just not enough to endure the rigorous training.
As I began to mentor business owners several years ago, I saw a growing trend. Everyone wants a break. They were down on their luck, so they want a discount. They had a hard season in life, so they wanted their money back 8 months after they bought a course. They wanted the 'quick fix' and the 'one question' answered that they just KNEW would propel them forward. When the truth of the matter is, you need 3 things to succeed in business: A product or service, people to buy the product or service, and a process that is unique, endures through everything and will last. Of course you need good pricing, that goes with the marketing. But the thing that most people miss is this: RARELY if ever did a very successful business owner ever get a 'break'. You have to work through each phase of the 3 P's.
I've pushed my way through after being a single mom who made $5,000 per year. I know what it's like to collect WIC coupons and struggle to survive. I now know what it's like to write a $5,000 check anytime I want to help someone else. I can still feel the tears running down my face, through devastation, illness, mistakes, loss, and more. It's all a part of the journey. To OMIT the process of going through the pain and the pressing through doesn't make one more successful, it actually makes us WEAK. We won't be able to endure.
We are designed as human beings to be resilent, to fight through, to survive horrific situations and come out shining. I recently saw the movie "Unbroken" and wept as I saw all that this man went through. Then I thought of the small business owners who write me, and tell me their tragedy. While I have much empathy for them, I want to tell them HIS story or MY story and tell them to pick up their mat and keep WALKING for crying out loud.
The prize doesn't go to the quickest, or the one who pushes forward ahead, or manipulates their way through. It goes to the one who ENDURES.
Do you want to have a legacy you can leave to your children? A memory you can tell others who want to believe too? ENDURE my friends… go through.. and don't seek a break. Seek strength from heaven to go through. Go through the gates. GO through the trials… go through, and shine all the way through.
With love,
Sandi Krakowski
