Just Keep Pushing Forward
I had a few things happen this week that made me think about Persistence, and what sometimes feels like the never ending battle to keep moving forward.
One of these things, a very happy thing, is the fact that my Cousin (who I have told you about in previous chapters - remember the murder trial in Chapter 8?) married his long time girlfriend this week. They have been together for 13 years, and are absolutely perfect together.
Here is a kid who could have easily gone the wrong way. He had every excuse in the book. Father in jail, mother dead, my Grandmother who raised him died... anything. But he didn't. He just kept moving forward. One step in front of the other towards his goals.
He started dating his girlfriend in High School. They were both scientists and would go all over the State and compete. He got his Bachelors Degree to be a Biochemist and she her teaching degree. She went away for a very special opportunity and they broke up before she left.
She hated it, and hated being without him. So she came home, they got back together, and she changed her direction and instead went to Law School. She set her mind towards a new goal.
Within two weeks of her graduating law school, they got engaged, and they were married. Just like that!
They could have both given up on their own dreams and each other along the way. But they both put their own goals first, and made their relationships work around it. And it all worked out.
Likewise with all of us - there are so many road blocks that confront us every single day. So many times that small road blocks, or devastating ones, can throw us off our path. We just have to keep moving forward.
I just finished a hilarious book by Kevin Hart - You Can't Make this Stuff Up. I highly recommend the audio version, since he is the one who reads it.
He tells the story of all of the road blocks in his life, all the times he screwed up, and all his failures he went through before he made it. TWELVE YEARS of failures. Of struggles. Of tiny little baby steps forward, and then several more that put him behind. He was literally famous for a little while in the industry as the bad luck charm to movies and TV show pilots. Every time he acted in one it failed! That sucks. How would you like to be that guy?
Sometimes its the world, sometimes we do it to ourselves. We just love to get in our own heads and fuck it all up sometimes.
We gotta stop it. We have to just stop what we are doing. Realize we screwed up. And restart. It's the only thing you can do.
Another thing we gotta do is STOP investing more time, money, energy, or emotions in something that is not working.
But I've spent so many years....
I'll have wasted all this time....
But I already invested so much money...
But it will have all been a waste...
ITS NOT WORKING!!!
Count your losses, put your big girl panties on and admit to yourself you made a mistake. It doesn't matter! Move on!
I remember one of my girlfriends was having a hard time financially and for almost two years she was struggling to keep her house. I could tell it was just so overwhelming to her that it was making her a nervous wreck. Finally it became too much and she lost her house anyways. Of course she was devastated about it - who wouldn't be? But once she had found a rental to move into she realized that a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. It was over! The worst had happened and she survived it. Not that was finished she could BEGIN AGAIN. She could work towards a new house. It would take time. But it was a new beginning. Fast forward three years later - she has bought a new house and she always marvels at the fact that she likes this one so much better!
You cannot begin moving TOWARDS your ultimate goals until you let go of the dead weight. DO NOT try to drag it along with you. It will ultimately make you miss out.
One more story... I recently had this great idea to do a gift delivery service. It is totally missing from the marketplace and I really think it would be a hit!
I tested it out during Mothers Day and it totally DID have a HUGE response. So big in fact that it kind of scared me! It really was just an idea that I thought of one day, and I really did not realize how much work and time it would take to maintain it.
On the other hand - I have several big opportunities with my Company, Aesthetic Ambassadors, that I need to spend some time with immediately. These are time sensitive items that I must figure out and initiate within the next three months.
These are good problems - right? Yes, of course. But If I do both of them, they will both be half ass. So I have a decision to make. And my decision is to fully concentrate on my current company, Aesthetic Ambassadors. Mostly because there are people who's lively hoods rely on me. And second because these are time sensitive issues.
Now, you could say - WAIT!!! But the other idea was so successful - why not figure out a way to do it!
This is where "JUST KEEP PUSHING FORWARD" runs into - Hey Stupid. Don't screw a good thing up.
I don't need to create a problem for myself. So I am STOPPING myself, to avoid making a huge mistake and screwing up both things.
I am not leaving my idea behind. I am just shelving it. And I am hoping no one copies it! But my ultimate LIFE GOAL is to keep growing this Company and everyone in it.
If there is a time where I have an opportunity to come back to this idea- you bet I will! And then my JUST KEEP PUSHING FORWARD will apply to getting them both done!
Good Luck with your goals. KEEP PUSHING FORWARD!
