Success in Life

Our lives are full of successes and setbacks. There will be times that you will achieve great things, and you will find that your life purpose and feel blessed. Then there are times that you hit setbacks, and your energy to focus on bad habits, anger, regret and pain.

Life Has a Way of knocking you Down, Making it Difficult to Get Back Up

It is not uncommon for people just like you to have bad habits when something knocks them down. These bad habits can make it hard to get back up. Sometimes these bad habits also have a ripple effect that damage relationships or create financial difficulties.

Some of us have seen hardship first hand and wonder how the person got there while others sit in our chairs right now, reading these words and realizing that they are already there. It's too easy to see life's ups and downs and feel that there are more downs then ups. So what is it that we can do to help spring up from our chairs and pick us back up again? What can we do to stop us from staying down when life knocks us over and giving up? Where can we turn when life's path feels like it is getting in our way?

My Story

I can relate to these feelings. I confess that there were times that I felt knocked down and wanted to sit back and complain about life's wrong turns. I have stayed down – sad in my misery at times, wallowing about my upsets. I have even been discouraged by the actions of others.

For ten years I have been a landlord of properties inSaskatoon. I have owned many properties and leased to hundreds of different tenants. Throughout this time I've experienced the pinnacle of disrespect as people have left my houses in immense disrepair and damage. I have had tenants that shot holes in the walls with pellet guns. I have seen tenants that tore up carpets, smashed down doors, broken windows, and stained the floor beyond the effects of carpet cleaning. One week a tenant decided not to pay rent and then left my house with a broken window.

When this happens it is easy to feel taken advantage of. Yet overcoming these setbacks is one of the primary secrets to success that I will talk about in a few moments.

Your Story

You may feel that you've experienced situations just like this that have left you feeling deflated, disrespected, or used. So when these feelings occur, stop for a second. Take a deep breath. Then spend some time for self-reflection. Sit back and ask identify each of these feelings and emotions and take a moment to be real about them.

Now it is time to practice a secret of success that can play a huge role in your life; one that if you can master it you will be well on your way to living with more abundance and success in your life. That secret is:

When you get knocked down, get up again and keep moving forward.

It seems simple, but training yourself to do this is going to be your greatest tool for achieving lifelong success. In life we all get knocked to the ground. We experience pitfalls that cause us to fall off our path. Many of these issues are completely out of your control. Relationships, work choices, friendships, loss and longing…

But if you are able to hold on and not give up – if you are able to stand back up again, you will watch the happiness in your life break through. When we step out from under defeat and bounce back from life's blows, we come back faster and stronger than ever before. Stronger than you have ever been.

That is why you need to hold on and not give up. Get back up immediately once you've been knocked down, moving forward and steading yourself for the next hit, because when it comes you'll be ready, and you will have the ability and readiness to fight back. There is always hope, and for every punch you take you come back stronger than ever before.

To quote Rocky Balboa:

"it ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward…"

In a previous job I was required to make a lot of cold calls to businesses. At times it was difficult to pick up the phone and make another call after experiencing so many hang ups and few tangible results. A friend of this job – my own Rocky Balboa – would quote the fictional boxer:

"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place It will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

Click the following link to view the expanded version of this inspirational speech.

The Rocky Balboa Secret to Success

By relating this secret of success with my disappointments as a landlord, I was able to derive new perspectives.
I have accepted that the prize of having rental properties paid off and the reward of that extra income outweighs the negatives that come from tenant disrespect.
I have accepted that these situations are roller coasters. Every risk I take is like buying a ticket to a roller coaster ride, and while I may occasionally feel fear or despair, I know that in the end I am going to leave the ride completely content, and the only thing way I can hurt myself is to jump out before the ride is over.
I have accepted that each challenge is a learning experience. What I learn from each difficulty makes me stronger, and minimizes the effects of any other setbacks.
I have accepted that I have the ability to get up and move forward. I know now that the faster I get back up the stronger I'll be, and the better I will feel about my situation.

Finally, I have learned that the best way – nay, the only great way – to get over these setbacks is to get up before I have left despair take over. The people that have been most successful in life are the ones that were able to overcome their own challenges quickly. Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Mozart and Mother Theresa all had their own challenges, but in the end none of them ever gave up from their goals.

The faster you get back up when you take a hit, the more you'll be able to take the next time and the more you will be able to move forward and learn from your past hits in order to avoid future ones.

"It ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

This Week's Reflect and Apply

Reflect on the hits that life has given you. Now think about what life would be like if you had stayed down for one minute longer. Now one hour longer. Now one day longer. Now one month longer. What would life have been like if you stayed down for that long?

Now reflect on the hits that life is giving you again. What would life be like if you got up faster –stronger – better than ever before. Even if you get hit again and again and again, you will be able to keep on moving forward, until one day you realize it didn't matter how many times that they hit you – what matters is that you were able to get back up.