Winning Truth Number
16
Make the Promise
I once wrote to myself on a big piece of paper ‘I will always win, because I will never quit.’ It’s not because I am better than anyone, it’s not because I am smarter than anyone and it’s not because I have more resources than anyone. It’s because I will keep standing long after everyone has left the game. I will be standing and working on my vision right to the last breath. That’s the commitment I have made to myself. In my mind, I am Rocky Balboa, the last man standing when it comes to fighting for that world title belt — my dream.
Everyone around you will want to achieve their goals and dreams, but unfortunately they give up when the going gets tough. When the going gets tough, the tough must fight back. When the going gets tough, you must remember that the game of life is not a game of convenience. If it were, everyone would win. It’s a game of mental toughness.
Will Smith once said in an interview that he could beat anyone on a treadmill. It wasn’t because he was the fittest person in the world, but purely because he would outlast any challenger by being so committed to never giving up.
Every winner has made a promise, be it in private or in public, and that is to never, ever, ever, ever, give up, no matter what. They have locked in on their target, and will not stop until they get to it. They might be delayed, they might be challenged beyond their beliefs, they might be forced to take alternative routes, but whatever happens they are committed to their promise, and will never break it.
Whatever you choose to do in life, make a promise to stick in all the way. Make a commitment to never give yourself the option of giving up. If failure was not an option and success is your only option, then you are forced to succeed. Every winner I have come across in life has had to outlast, outrun and outwit the challenges they faced. They had the tenacity to see themselves through the finish line of any race they chose to start.
Do you know the percentage of people who would have started this book and will never finish it? Believe it or not probably over 75%. I look forward to hearing that you are part of the 25% who have chosen to cross the finish line.
Winners have one exit strategy, and that’s not succumbing to challenges and reasons. Their only exit strategy is achieving what they set out to do.
To be a winner in any aspect of your life, you must first make that promise.
Take a moment to reflect on this truth. Consciously live this truth in week 16.