Greetings from Tampa International Airport!
Thanks to the freak weather that’s currently battering the southeast United States, my flight to Atlanta was canceled yesterday and I won’t be able to fly out until later on today, hopefully. Sorry for missing yesterday’s post, but this article will explain why. I’m bleary eyed, sick, hoarse, wearing the same shirt for the past three days, on just a few hours of sleep, and beyond exhausted, but come Hell or high water I will get to Atlanta somehow.
When dealing with effort, motivation, goal setting, building muscle, starting a business, and success, there’s one motto above all else that has continually guided my life:
“Do whatever it takes.”
I come across people all day who are trying to level up their lives and live better. I can always tell within just a few minutes of conversation who will be successful and who isn’t quite ready for that step yet.
When I hear “I want this but I’m not willing to give up that, change this, I don’t think I can do that, ehhhh I don’t know, etc.,” I tell those folks to come back to me when they’re willing to work for it.
If you don’t want it bad enough, you will find excuses as to why you’re not getting the results you’d like. You’ll use these excuses to justify failure and inaction – “it wasn’t my fault that I didn’t succeed, because ________ happened.”
If you want something bad enough, you will do WHATEVER it takes to get there.
This isn’t really news, but success in life can be hard! Rome wasn’t built in a day, quick fixes don’t work. If what you want is worth fighting for, it’s probably going to take months of work, hours upon hours of dedication, and a level of determination that is beyond anything you’ve needed before.
When you give yourself no other option other than success, and flat out refuse to accept anything less: you will get it done.
As Sean Astin says in The Goonies, “Goonies never say die.” Sometimes you will have to make sacrifices, not take no for an answer, and/or explore every freaking possible option in order to get what you want.
There is ALWAYS a way.
Loss of a Friend
If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you know that my current home base is in Massachusetts, so why am I trying so hard to get to Atlanta? Unfortunately, the younger brother of one of my best friends passed away after a lifelong battle with cancer over the weekend while I was out at sea on The Rock Boat; it’s tough for me to say “lifelong” when Jack was just a 16-year old kid.
I had already rescheduled some flights to spend a night in Atlanta to visit him the hospital before taking off for my big trip, but now that he’s passed away I’ve rescheduled my two flights for this week and pushed back the first flight on my world trip by a few days until next Wednesday.
I’m glad I’ll be able to spend the entire week in Atlanta so that I can be there for Jack’s funeral, and to be there for my friend and her family in any way possible. I see lots of couches and borrowed clothes in my immediate future, not being there for something like this just never entered my mind.
I’ll be doing a proper post that honors Jack at some point in the near future once I can truly wrap my head around it.
We’ll miss ya buddy.
The best 3 Minutes of Your Day
Sorry for that sad section, but hopefully this will cheer you up and inspire the hell out of you.
This video was shared by Knightwatch of the Nerd Fitness community last week, and it instantly brought tears to my eyes. I know it’s a simple promotional video for HBO boxing, but it’s one of the best short films I’ve seen in a long, long time – it sums up what’s possible when you’re willing to do whatever it takes to be successful.
I guarantee this will be the most inspirational three minutes of your day:
If you want something bad enough, you’ll run through walls to get it.
Today has the chance to be the best day of your life – set your goals, refuse to accept failure, and then start DOING IT. And if you get a chance, call your brothers and sisters and tell them that you love them. Stuff like that can never be said enough.
Hopefully my next article will be written from Atlanta, GA – fingers crossed!
Whatever it takes.
-Steve
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