Slow and Steady Wins the race Every Time!
We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called “Opportunity” and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Pierce
The other night, my daughter Tayla, asked me to read her a bedtime story. Ever since she was a baby we have read to her every night. So now it is engrained in her that she cannot go to sleep unless one of us reads her a story. The story we read is one that everyone knows, Aesop's Fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. What a great story and moral! Slow and steady wins the race ever time.
Welcome to 2012, a perfect opportunity to make a new start. We live in the greatest time in human history and anyone in any part of the world, with the help of modern technology, can achieve just about anything they set out to achieve. We are also no longer competing with people in our town, state or country. No, this truly is a global economy. Some say, “a shark eat shark world”. It is time to draw a line in the sand and be the best you can be today. You have but one decision to make…it's that simple. Commit to Consistent Excellence!
Make 2012 your best year ever! Don't over complicate the process; but DO write down your goals. Research shows that people who write down their goals have a significantly better success rate than those who don't. Write a simple list of what you would like to see happen to you this year. Then pick your top 3 from that list that will make the biggest difference. Just as in Aesop's Fable, the reason 95% of people have given up on their New Year's Resolutions by Valentine's Day is because they make the list too long. The task becomes overwhelming. What you want to consider is what Darren Hardy says in “The Compound Effect,” Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = Radical Difference.
Two years ago I decided to make changes to be healthier. At that time I was starting my day at 8am with an “energy drink” and a coffee. By 10am, my body required another “energy drink” and so my day progressed. I could easily have 4 or 5 “energy drinks” to enable me to get through my day and then resorted to sleeping tablets at night to help me get some rest. A vicious cycle of uppers and downers then ensued. Without the “energy drink” I couldn't get through my day. I felt exhausted and realized I was aging fast. I knew it was vital at that point to make some serious changes. I decided to slowly reduce the number of “energy drinks” I consumed a day until I was having just one. Then I decided to have coffee once a week as a treat and I also got a personal trainer and trained twice a week. A few small, smart choices, consistently over time made a radical difference.
Now let me fast-forward to today. I am training 5-6 times a week, still go to the trainer, and I don't consume “energy drinks.” Still, I treat myself to coffee once a week. I drink blended green protein shakes that everyone gives me a hard time about, but I have more energy now than I have had in years. Yes, it's been a hard, tough journey, but slow and steady means winning the race. I am no Saint. I go off the rails from time to time, but my goal is to be 90% on target with food and exercise. Life happens and we still need to have fun.
My message to you is, if I can do it, then so can you. Make the commitment to yourself to reach your goals no matter the distractions around you. To start, I would suggest choosing 3 areas of your life and then write your goals down. Statistically, you will already be ahead of the masses and on your way to being a winner. Aristotle wrote, “We are what we repeatedly do.” The game of life is in the inches and by being a little better every day. It's not starting the race that wins…slow and steady wins every time.
Now go and have fun, and have your best year ever!
Sincerely,
Ralph Harris
Editor