Are You Prepared To Face Today’s Challenges?
I run… a lot. In fact, lately I’ve been running over 35 miles per week and I plan to increase that number. My dream is to run a marathon before I’m discharged from the Army in June of 2011. Not only am I going to run it, but I’m going to accomplish it with a time that I will really fill me with pride.
When I came into work last Monday morning the skies were filled with clouds and rain was coming down nicely. Yet oddly enough the temperature was maintaining at nearly 80 degrees.
As I headed outside for our morning formation, I could feel the rain pelting down on me and soaking my uniform. Because of the temperature, though, it wasn’t overly uncomfortable.
The point is that people who are much better people than myself are missing out because they don’t believe in themselves.So as most of the soldiers around me headed off to work on pushups and situps inside or went into the gym to avoid the rain, I thought about my personal fitness goals. I want to run a Marathon this year. In fact, this past Saturday morning I ran 16 miles as a part of my training toward that goal and I want to continue training and pushing myself as hard as I can.
It didn’t matter to me that it was pouring down. I had to run. I felt compelled. If I want to compete, I can’t let anything stand in my way. With this in mind I moved forward and dredged through an 8 mile run in the pouring rain.
How Dedicated Are You To Your Goals?
As I’ve looked back on that morning’s run, I learned a few things about myself and about determination.
- I believe in myself. I’ve always believed that if I really put my mind to it, I can accomplish amazing things in life. I was raised to believe this, but as I’ve moved forward with this mindset, I’ve observed an amazing phenomenon. I’ve accomplished amazing tasks that I’m incredibly proud of that others who have far superior skills have not accomplished. The point is that people who are much better people than myself are missing out because they don’t believe in themselves.
- I dream big. This point naturally follows our first point. Because I believe in myself, I have big dreams. I want to use every resource at my disposal to accomplish great things. I don’t want to be a part of the status quo. I don’t want to be average. Join me in this. Chances are that you’re in that group that I referenced in the first point. You’re probably more talented and skilled than I. Don’t be that person who wastes it away because you don’t set goals that really challenge you to reach for your potential.
- I don’t let anything stand in my way. Sometimes when you move forward to achieve something great, it can feel like hell and ten legions of demons are pushing back against your efforts. This simple concept is exactly why success is often not achieved by the most skilled or even the most experienced but by the one who simply refuses to quit. Don’t back down. Don’t give in. Determine that nothing will stand in the way of your dreams becoming a reality.
I sometimes feel awkward looking at myself to draw lessons that I can share with the readers here because I don’t want to portray myself as someone who is superior in any way to anyone else. In fact, the more people I meet, the more inferior I feel. But that doesn’t sway me from reaching higher every day. I’m determined to passionately push forward and reach new heights every day and I want you to join me in that determination.
Onibalusi Bamidele
Great Post Nicholas!
I also have all the characteristics you listed above. If you have them, a lot of people will be against you.
Nobody taugth me computer, but I have done wonders that even big telecommunication companies are already looking for me (I am just 16). I so much believe myself.
I set big goals that people around me will shout me down and tell me to shut up and stop saying the impossible.
I am achieving my goals little by little even at a very young age (I wish I can always be 16
)
Thanks a lot for the great post, it is really full of inspiration,
-Onibalusi
Nicholas Cardot
That’s great Onibalusi. I hadn’t realized that you were only 16 so you definitely have a great advantage over your peers. Keep setting goals and keep reaching higher and higher. Don’t let anything stand in your way, friend.
Jasmine Henry from System Fail News
Hi 5 for being a young blogger! (I’m 14). I agree with you that perseverance can help us achieve big things, if we can motivate ourselves into doing something, we can do anything. With a lot of motivation, a big helping of inspiration as well as a tiny bit of perspiration (!) anything is possible and only we can only be stopped by ourselves.
Nicholas Cardot
And to you also. I didn’t realize your age either. Congratulations on your stellar performance as well. Great work.
Bruce Teague
I wasted a lot of my life not believing in myself. And why didn’t I? I’m awesome.. and so is everybody else (almost). There’s no reason people can’t achieve their goals. Successful people aren’t usually smarter or better they just go after it harder.
I had a little trouble understanding your examples in this post. What is this running thing you speak of?
Nicholas Cardot
Ha ha. It’s that thing that made you do back in Gym class when you were kid. I’m sure though that it was a long time ago for you.
I agree with you though that the real successes aren’t usually the smarter or better people. It’s simply the people who refuse to take no for an answer.
Bruce Teague
I actually use to run by my own free will. It’s probably been about 7 years since I’ve done it though.
Nicholas Cardot
What is it that drove you to stop running? What would it take for you to desire to do it again? And more importantly, if running isn’t one of your primary goals (because let’s be honest, running won’t make us or break us) what are the goals that really get you fired up? What are you really passionate about?
mark
Hi Nick,
What a great goal – running a marathon is no small accomplishment!
You raise a point here that may not have been on purpose, but is really powerful & important in the context of this site. That is, you mention that you have goals & that they are not exactly directly related to your day job.
True leaders tend to have goals, and not all of them are directly related to their job (assuming modern office-type leader). Rather, they have the goals for their department & they have goals for themselves. The goals they have for themselves often come out at work even if they are not part of it.
And here is the key – both of these types of goals are required for a leader to be successful. For many leaders, the difference between work and life is almost indistinguishable in their minds. That is, they see all of these goals equally.
Before someone demonizes that and says “my life is more important than my work” I should say this:
Why would you want to do something at work that you do not enjoy? Work is part of life. If you can easily separate them, then it is time to dream a little bigger, to work a little harder, and to find what you need to make your life better.
BTW – Onibalusi is incredibly inspiring! When I was 16, I don’t think that I ever thought about anything of substance. Keep up the good work!
Have a good day!
Nicholas Cardot
Mark, your comment really resonates well with me. In fact, I’ve now read it twice and with your permission I’d really like to use some excerpts from it in a follow-up article.
In fact, you mentioned, “Why would you want to do something at work that you do not enjoy?” and I would take that just a little bit further. I wouldn’t challenge people just over the enjoyment of their work because I do believe that sometimes we must do things that we don’t necessarily enjoy.
I would ask the question, “Why would you want to do something at work that you do not believe in?”
I’m convinced though that when we truly believe in what we’re doing then we can ‘enjoy’ even the tasks that we would despise under other conditions. I may not like dealing with garbage and refuse, but if it’s my favorite charity then I would enjoy helping take the garbage to the dumpster after a big event.
mark
Use whatever you want. I like your revision to the question – it gets to what I was saying a bit better, actually. There are, and probably always will be, aspects to my job that I really do not enjoy. But, I do believe that what I do is important, and that helps me to work effectively with the people I need to every day.
Great points Nick.
Have a good day!
Nicholas Cardot
Thanks, Mark. I’ll be using it tomorrow. I think you’ll like it. At least, I hope you will.
Anne
Why do you run in uniform? In my days in the IDF we used to do physical training in teeshirts and shorts.
Kudos to you on running so much – I am sure you will do the marathon soon enough. My brother-in-law just ran a marathon recently, and he only started running at the age of 50+. He said it’s actually easier now, mentally.
For myself, I need to lose a lot of excess mommy weight, but I do run (almost daily) and my dream is to get do a 10K race someday – hopefully before I turn 40!
Nicholas Cardot
We have a fitness uniform that is a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. We don’t wear the combat uniform to do our fitness training in.
If you keep at it, you can do a 10k. Just keep pushing forward and run even when you don’t feel like running. Great goal!
Emily
Hi 5 for being a young blogger! (I’m 14). I agree with you that perseverance can help us achieve big things, if we can motivate ourselves into doing something, we can do anything. With a lot of motivation, a big helping of inspiration as well as a tiny bit of perspiration (!) anything is possible and only we can only be stopped by ourselves.
Faith
Waw! that’s amazing I love your article..it’s really inspiring,and I understand what you want to say cuz it describes what I’ve been through in my latest years ..