There is a key element to success that not all people understand: struggle. Struggle is a key element of getting ahead. It exists in quitting smoking. It exists in losing weight. It exists in getting a promotion. It exists in building a business. It exists in making more money. Any time you look to advance yourself you can bet that struggle will play into the equation at some point.
For Mark Cuban it was living in an apartment with 6 other guys eating ketchup and mustard sandwiches. For some it might be living without pay television, internet and not eating out for a year or more. For others it might involve walking to work instead of driving.
I have joked in the past that anyone can work a home budget of $5000 per month, but it takes talent to live for a couple of weeks on $20. You know you’ve lived the struggle when you can live in a major metro area and have the skills to stretch that 20 bucks to its max!
Most people are afraid of the struggle and they don’t know how to handle it. Which explains why more people don’t reach their personal goals. It’s not laziness. It’s not lack of motivation. It’s not lack of education. It’s fear. They fear the struggle. They fear the ‘what if’ part of success that says ‘what if it doesn’t work out?’.
I believe strongly in visualization. I learned this fact of the universe when I played golf professionally and worked on my pre-shot routine. In golf my sports psychologist worked with me on seeing the shot in my mind before I hit the shot in real-time. I would imagine the height of the shot, the spin, where the ball would land and where the ball would come to rest. And when I was locked-in the ball would often times fly close to the exact path I had visualized in my mind.
About once per week I’ll get an email asking me how I maintain such a positive attitude. And I get enough of these emails to make me believe people view me as being a positive person, although, I don’t view myself as a positive person. The truth is I haven’t always been so positive.