“I’ve had smarter people around me all my life, but I haven’t run into one yet that can outwork me. And if they can’t outwork you, then smarts aren’t going to do them much good. That’s the way it is. And if you believe that and live by it, you’d be surprised at how much fun you can have.”

Woody Hayes 1913 – 1987

I tell all my students, “Perception is everything”. As you grow older, you accrue experiences, some good, and some bad. Many people, unfortunately, dwell on the negative even if the outcome is positive but not to their liking. We all have negatives in our lives; bad relationships, weight gain, financial troubles, death, accidents, etc. The one constant in our lives is that life continues no matter what we do. It does not matter how much money one has or how many friends, life will always have its setbacks. The problem most people have is not the set back itself, but how we handle it.

Let me put it to you this way, it took Thomas Edison 2000 tries before successfully inventing the light bulb. A reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times. Thomas Edison replied, “I never failed once, It just happened to be a 2000 step process.” How many of us would have continued even after 100 tries. Obviously things weren’t going his way, but he kept a positive outlook, forged ahead and reaped the rewards.

In an excellent article in the March 2007 issue of Ironman Magazine, Skip La Cour writes about his “8 Steps to Getting Back the Confidence You Had During Better Times and Reclaiming Your Power”. Skip really hits the nail on the head with an explanation of what to do when life isn’t going the way you want at any age.

8 Steps that are explained in detail to reclaim your life.

1. Take full responsibility for where you are in your life.
2. Identify exactly what you want for the rest of your life.
3. Carefully examine the events that have led you to where you are today in your life.
4. Take control of your overall health and appearance.
5. Carefully choose the people who surround you.
6. Learn how to deal with other people more effectively.
7. Become an expert at something your passionate about in life.
8. Invest in coaching.

Skip La Cour is an excellent motivator/coach that has devoted his life to helping others reach their potential. This article is a great read especially for those who are feeling like they can’t get back on track. I don’t think the article is available on line any longer.

“There is one quality that one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants and a burning desire to achieve it.”

- Napoleon Hill

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work”

-Thomas Edison

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”

- Benjamin Franklin

“A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.”

Vince Lombardi

The hardest part to attaining goals is pre-payment. The goal is attained only after you’ve paid the price or done the work. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Attaining a goal requires effort and you get what you put in. The life you lead today is a reflection of the work you put in up to the present. The life you lead in the future is determined by the work you put in between now and then.

Many people bite off more than they can chew. They set lofty goals usually while they’re caught up in emotion, work hard for a while, don’t see big returns, get discouraged and quit. Achieving big goals is a lot of work and fitness is no different than any other aspect of your life. There is an old saying that if you save your pennies, the dollars take care of themselves. We need to set and achieve smaller goals and gradually we’ll realize bigger goals.

To reach a big goal, one must set small goals. Remember, every journey begins with one step. Simply take your big goals and segment them into smaller, more attainable goals. Look at these smaller goals as rungs on a ladder. Not only does each rung get you one more step toward the top, you must hit each one to safely and effectively reach your destination.

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, either way you are right.”

Henry Ford