It’s hard to go for what you truly want.
It’s hard on many different levels, but these three most easily come to mind.
First you must believe it’s possible.
As Napoleon Hill said, “whatever the mind of man can conceive and bring itself to believe, it can achieve.” Or Henry Ford, “whether you think you can or cannot you’re right!”
Powerful ideas, right?
And that right there is the hardest step – believing it’s possible for you to get what you want.
It’s like this VP I met last week. He’s an early promote, at every level of his career, young for his title, yet he wants to push for early promote to MD. How can he do that?
Many people around him are wondering is it even possible to get promoted in this market, yet he’s saying, “I’ve done it my entire career, and if you’re willing to do what it takes, it’s still possible to get promoted early.”
He shall see. That he’s willing to go for it is what counts.
But, importantly, what matters more is what he said in the middle of that sentence. That’s the second hard part of getting what you want. You must be willing to do what it takes.
And that is not easy. Because to pull off something hard and get what you want can take extraordinary efforts.
Think about it. Look at everything you’ve done just to get where you are today. How much have you already had to do?
As he said, just to get here, he’s been putting in long hours for close to two decades.
He came from a dirt poor family. As he puts it, “we didn’t have two penny’s, we were rubbing coke bottle tops together!” Just to get to and through college required massive effort. But, that was easy for him. He had no choice. He was willing to do what it took.
That landed him at the top of his class and then to a top job on Wall Street.
As you know, that’s where the hard work really began!
Throughout his career just to survive, let alone thrive, he’s had to do whatever it takes. Long hours. On and off planes. Day and night voicemail. Then, on top of that, going over and above, stepping up, doing more than he needed to keep getting ahead, stepping up at every level.
And going beyond that.
He’s a reader.
A learner.
He’s spent years reading the sorts of books that line my shelves, floors, hard drives, and every space in my place and mind. Then, like feeding Godiva to a chocoholic, he said to me, “you have to grow if you want to get ahead.” Amen!
That’s the third hard part of getting what you want.
It not only takes being willing to do what it takes, but it takes a willingness to grow and learn, to keep getting better and better if you want to get better and better results.
Doing all that is not easy. But nothing of any value in life is ever easy. That’s the point!
Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world because every day he hits the track hard. Anderson Silva is the best fighter in the world because he never stops. Andy Murray became a world champ because Ivan Lendl took his training to an entirely different level.
None of that is easy, but if you love to grow and win, it’s not only worth it, it’s what makes your heart pump, what brings you alive.
It’s just like in our lives. Think about your family. Responsibility. Your spouse. Kids. Financial obligations. Commitments to something bigger than you. None of that is easy. But, it’s easy to do when it matters to you.
And that’s the secret to getting what you want. When you want it so much, the effort feels easy, it’s just what you do because you love getting what you want!