Muhammad Ali knew that. And that’s how he became “The Greatest.”
It may not be your choice to get knocked down, but it is your choice whether or not you get back up.
In the last post (Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude, March 15, 2009) I wrote about the power of a positive attitude and how it has a lot to do with any successes in life. More often than not, your attitude is the number one determining factor in your success. You can control whether or not you will be a winner in life, regardless of your natural ability.
That being said, there are other attributes that separate “winners” from “losers.” And the difference between the two is huge.
Winners would rather attempt something great and fail than attempt nothing and succeed. Winners start with, and stick with, clear goals. They don’t quit when things get tough.
The second thing that winners do—and you must do—is to keep your eye on the goal. Winners do not get side-tracked. They do not get distracted from their goals. They do not lose their focus.
Thirdly, visualize your goal. See it in your mind. See it as though it were already accomplished. The clearer your picture and the more often you view it, the more persevering you will become. And the easier it will be to accomplish your goal. You might even add in your other senses. Think about your goal. Dream about it. See it. Feel it. Taste it. Smell it. The more you visualize what you want to achieve, the more likely you are to achieve it.
We all have faults, and some of us have goals. But you reinforce your perseverance and achievement when you visualize your goals.
Fourth, you must take some action. It’s important to have some goals, and it helps to visualize your goals, but that’s not enough. You’ve got to do something. Constant effort and frequent mistakes have almost always preceded phenomenal success. You’ve got to do more than visualize yourself as a physically fit person. You’ve got to work out in the gym once in a while. You’ve got to do more than affirm your ideal weight. You’ve got to stop eating the wrong foods and consciously consume the right ones. Sometimes you have to do something you hate to create something you love.
Are you willing to take some action? Are you willing to do whatever it takes? Winners are more than willing. They don’t expect something for nothing. And they don’t expect anyone else to do it for them. Winners accept complete responsibility for their lives, and they don’t make excuses. They’re very tenacious. They keep at it. As Winston Churchill said, “It’s no use saying you are doing your best. You have got to do what is necessary.” What about you? Are you a dreamer or a doer? You’ve got to be a doer. Some people merely dream of worthy accomplishments while others stay awake and do them.
Fifth, keep on taking action, no matter how you feel. Do what you have to do. Take responsibility. Refuse to excuse yourself. Losers and/or people who give up think a good explanation can excuse a poor result. Truly successful people, on the other hand, take responsibility for their failures, learn from them, and do better the next time around. It’s a matter of maturity, and maturity does not always parallel age. Maturity comes with the acceptance of responsibility.
If you’re going to achieve your goals, you’ve got to keep on taking action, even if you don’t feel like it. How well are you doing in that department? Losers are guided by their feelings. If they don’t feel like it, they don’t do it. A loser is like the employee who was asked what he did in the morning to make sure he had a great day. He answered, “I call in sick.” The real winners, the top 10% don’t enjoy certain tasks any more than the losers do, but they do them anyway. The top 10% know they can’t get to where they want to go by remaining where they are. So they make themselves do what needs to be done. It’s their duty. And sometimes, as novelist John Fowles said, “Duty largely consists of pretending that the trivial is critical.”
You’ve got to keep on keeping on despite your disappointment and discouragement. You’ve got to be careful of putting too much stock in your feelings. Your feelings are a useful piece of data in any decision you make, but they should not have the final say in doing what you know you should be doing.
Muhammad Ali knew that. That’s how he became great. He even said, “I hated every minute of the training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” And that’s how he became “The Greatest.” 
Don’t quit just because it’s difficult to keep going. And don’t quit just because you don’t feel like keeping on.
Sixth, commit yourself to finding a way. No matter what your goal might be, there is almost always a way to achieve it. The power is found in your commitment. In fact, it’s quite clear that a person who has a goal, who believes in his goal, and is committed to achieving it, has more energy and more success than a person who doesn’t. In fact, once you commit yourself to finding a way, almost-magical powers come to your aid.
Winners are committed to finding a way.
Finally, practice, practice, practice. There are few shortcuts on the road to success. We all have to practice, practice, practice. Great pianists know this. They invest hundreds of hours of practice before a concert. They know that the quality of their performance will be determined by the quality of their many grueling hours of practice. All the goals in the world wouldn’t amount to much if there wasn’t a lot of practice to go along with them.
Are you practicing enough? If your answer is “yes,” congratulations! With enough perseverance, your success is almost a foregone conclusion.
A parting thought: Life isn’t fair. You know that. Some people have more than their share of difficulties, and some people get more breaks than they deserve. That’s just the way it is. Deal with it. When you try to accomplish your goals, you will encounter some difficulties. You may see other people get in your way. You may feel like giving up instead of keeping up.
But you’ve got to remember this… It may not be your choice to get knocked down, but it is your choice whether or not you get back up. I challenge you to get back up, to use the strategies I’ve outlined above. And you’ll have the perseverance you need to accomplish your goals. After the rain stops, the sun does come out again. Remember this!
Training and eating . . . that’s the magic . . . and if you’re willing to take the high road, the magic can lead to immense long term rewards.
Rick Streb
