Never EVER Give Up!

Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.-Winston Churchill

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.-Michael Jordan

If you're going through hell, keep going.-Winston Churchill

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes. -Mahatma Gandhi

          There’s no such thing as failure. The only time someone can fail is when they stop trying. No matter how many times you can’t do something, there is no failure until you quit. Sometimes we lose motivation and stop pursuing an activity, that’s normal. The negativity starts when we want something so bad, but no matter how much we try, we just can’t obtain it. I’m here to tell you that you can.

          As children when we don’t get something “right,” we are conditioned to feel ashamed or less than others. This is the furthest from the truth. All of us grow up with different experiences and are exposed to different environments. Some of us spent time planting crops and painting; others have been playing sports and building car engines. The skills focused in our youth will give each of us an advantage in different areas. A person’s development in a specific area or skill is dependent on many variables. It would be simply insane to rate someone on how fast they ‘learn’ something new.

          A common case of this thinking is the belief women aren’t as good as men at sports.  This is a false observational study. The only scientific difference is men, on average, are 15 percent stronger than women. This is completely irrelevant to motor skills. Girls are typically taught to play with dolls, set up tea parties, etc. Boys are pushed to do sports. What are the results? The girls develop better organizational/multitasking skills and boys develop better motor skills. These types of experiences are what shape how someone develops in certain areas, even emotions.

          Everyone who is new at something will not be an expert in the beginning. Those who pick up things faster do so because of similar previous experiences.  They already have the learned intelligence to apply to the new task. Everyone can learn anything, in their own way and at their own pace.  Patience, perseverance, and a strong will always bring results. Even something like a strong will can be learned. No one is “born” with anything implanted in their mind. Everything is possible to develop, at any age, if you work hard enough for it.

          I always use this example when I’m explaining the process of learning and growing. Recently, I began trying to do the flag. The flag is an exercise where you hold yourself up on a pole sideways with only your arms. At first, I had no idea how to do it, what muscles I was going use or even where to begin. I only knew I had to try it. I attempted and failed miserably.  I kept changing arm positions, asking friends, everything, but it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen. I didn’t give up; I kept trying with absolutely NO sign of improvement. Finally, one day I jumped and somehow held myself up for half a millisecond. It probably didn’t look like it from the outside, but I felt it. It was amazing, I felt everything I had to feel. I felt the muscles that were being used, how to hold out my legs, how far apart to place my arms, it finally came to me. I finally understood. All the time I was trying seemed futile and JUST when I was about to give up, I felt it. Without realizing, all that practice and effort I put into it before was helping. This has happened to me time and time again. The same thing happened when I was trying to learn muscle ups, and when I started boxing. Now I am confident no matter how hopeless something seems or how much time something is taking, to keep trying. You will NEVER lose until you give up, and even if you do give up, you can always pick it up and try again.  Often times I see people trying and trying and trying and they give up RIGHT when they have one foot in the door, RIGHT when the effective change starts kicking in and it’s such a shame.

          There’s always a way to grow, there is no such thing as being “bad” at something or “it’s impossible” to learn something. Be patient and dedicated. If you believe in yourself, you can do it. If you don’t believe in yourself, learn how.

Get Happy=Feel Optimistic=Get Stronger=Be Confident=Do Great Things=Get Happy

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

 Winston Churchill

“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours”

 Swedish Proverb

“The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”

It’s a gift to see when good comes along. Living a life of optimism is the only way that makes sense. It’s all about short term versus long term, which can bring about challenging, negative consequences. The short term consequences will be: being disappointed, underestimating certain situations, etc. The long term benefits of being optimistic far outweigh the negatives.  Optimism will make you gain respect in yourself and others, confidence, trust, understanding, energy, enthusiasm, creativity, open mindedness, the list is endless. This benefits not only you but everyone around you. You will be positively impacting your personal and global worlds.

Of course, you will always encounter those bitter souls that argue optimism isn’t beneficial. These people don’t strive to be optimistic, they can’t see outside their prior experiences.  The trick to get past these hindering experiences is to emulate a positive environment and constantly seek this environment. You have to break away from the negative influences. Let’s say something is negatively influencing my life and distracting me from my goals. With some discipline, I’ll actively prevent that negative influence from being accessible. To complement this, I would keep what brings joy and happiness into my life around and fully accessible.

Happiness is optimism, which makes you feel strong and confident. When negative situations strike, you’ll be so positive, nothing will faze you. You can you can triumph or help a loved one triumph with just your positive energy. It’s a strong, contagious phenomenon that is severely underestimated.

Get happy, feel optimistic, get stronger, be confident, do great things……In that order…then keep the cycle going……Stay happy out there friends!!!