This holiday season I had time to reflect on many things, and try to set my plans and priorities for 2015. One thing is for sure: success never comes easily.
2014 was a very difficult year, and I was glad to see it go. Many challenges happened (both personally and professionally) and it just felt really hard to make progress. Some successes were achieved, but in other areas I am sure I went backward. It was a real grind - every moment of every day. Was it like that for you, too?
I know when I see successful people that one major contributor to their ultimate success is their perseverance, a dogged and relentless ability to keep moving forward - even through difficulty and uncertainty. This ability to not just endure - but to inch forward in the face of overwhelming odds sometimes - and the defining the willpower it takes to make it in a world as tough as ours is.
I want 2015 to be a selfish year - for all of us.
I want to make it a year where we take care of ourselves first:
- pay ourselves first
- reward ourselves first
- love ourselves first
- make ourselves happy first
- get ourselves healthy first
Rather than trying to be in the convenient business of advising others, which gives me the luxury of not having to improve myself, I want this year to be a year of sorting myself out first - leading by example and pushing toward my goals, then encouraging others to do the same. We can all get where we want to go without having to take from each other, but we can't get there without putting ourselves first.
I have paid forward enough failure to last my lifetime and beyond.
This year it's time to get some well-deserved success.
I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
What strikes me about this quote is not just that MJ was not afraid to fail, and ultimately overcame his failures to be the greatest player in the history of the game. What strikes me is the numbers - how much effort it takes every day to be the best. His stats don't include all the training and practice it takes to maintain himself at such a high competitive level. It also doesn't include his determination to win first, to be the best he can be - first, which in turn helped his team be the best it could be. To succeed you must invest in yourself FIRST. If you are not happy, you cannot contribute to the happiness of others. If you do not love yourself, you cannot accept the love of others. If you have nothing, you can give back nothing. If you give everything away, there is nothing left for you. Martyrdom helps no one, especially not you. Instead, be determined to move forward even single inch every day, and let the numbers add up for you. That's how I plan to do --- dig in and push forward, slowly if I have to, but FORWARD, inch by inch, every single day.
How about you? What will you do for yourself this year? What are your goals and dreams? Are they big enough? Can they be even BIGGER??
I look forward to celebrating my success (and yours) same time next year.
As always, thank you for believing in me and for your constant support.
See you on the mats very soon.
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