Hey, friend – I see you.
I see you setting big goals and dreaming big dreams.
I see you stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying something new.
And I see you working hard every day to make those dreams a reality.
But I also know you feel tired sometimes.
I know you wonder if you’re on the right path.
And I know you question whether working so hard will ever pay off.
In this week’s podcast, I’m here to offer you a little nudge.
I’m here to give you a boost of motivation to help reignite that excitement and determination that burns inside of you.
I’m here to tell you that you are on the right path.
And that your hard work will pay off.
So if you’re looking for a bit of inspiration today, then you’ve come to the right place.
Check out episode 48 below, or stream it from your favorite podcasting app!
Prefer to read? Keep scrolling for the entire podcast transcript.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE!
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL DISCOVER…
- Powerful new thoughts to shift your perspective
- The importance of persistence and commitment to your goals
- Inspiring messages to keep you moving forward on your journey
LINKS FROM THE PODCAST
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When You Feel Like Giving Up On Your Goal, Do This (Transcript)
Hey, friends. How’s it going? Thanks for joining me today.
This week I am here to give you a little nudge. I’m here to give you a little pick-me-up. A little boost of motivation to keep you moving forward.
Because here’s the deal. I know so many of you amazing listeners are doing incredible things right now. You have big goals and big dreams and you’re so excited to make them happen.
And when you’re doing these incredible things, this requires you to put yourself out there. It requires you to try new things. It requires you to take risks, to step outside of your comfort zone, be vulnerable, and be willing to fail. And this can be hard. Most of us don’t willingly think to ourselves, “Hooray! I can’t wait to put myself out in front of people, be super vulnerable, and then fail while doing it.”
But because you are a busy awesome human, you’re doing it anyway. You’re showing up. You’re doing the work. And that’s one of the things I love so much about this community.
Now, I also know that sometimes we get tired. Sometimes we feel discouraged. Sometimes we question whether what we are doing is worth it. Is it worth it to keep doing this incredibly hard thing when we keep failing in the process? Is it worth it to keep putting ourselves out there even though it’s so scary and uncomfortable? Do we want to keep working on that project or the business, or the book, when we don’t know the exact step by step of how to reach the end result? Is it worth it?
Today I want to just provide some thoughts on these questions. I want to offer some words of motivation to get you moving forward again. And I’m keeping this episode on the shorter side so that you can return to it anytime you need a little push to get going.
Opportunity and Hard Work
Now, I want to start by offering a quote that my mom had in the signature of her email for years. And it was a quote by Thomas Edison, which read, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
And first of all, I’ve got to tell you, this is so fitting for my mom. Because she is always “all in” with the next opportunity. She is always diving into the next project. And she’s always open to learning something new, trying something new, and sharing what she’s learned with others. I just love it. I think it’s absolutely inspiring.
And when I think about this quote — opportunity is missed by most people because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work — I think it really speaks to the reality of opportunity. It speaks to the idea that opportunities and brilliant ideas don’t just fall in your lap fully formed and already done. It’s a rare situation when you have an idea pop in your mind, you try it once, everything falls exactly in the place, and you’ve suddenly achieved major success with little effort.
Overnight success is never overnight
Frankly, I can tell you that’s never happened for me or anyone else I’ve ever spoken with who has worked toward a big goal. I mean, overnight success is never overnight. Because the reality is this: we set big goals, and we consider them to be big goals because they’re so far away from where we are right now. We consider them big milestones because we have to work so hard to get them.
And when we’re presented with a chance to do something incredible, whether that’s starting a new business, or leading a team, or learning a new system for work, or starting a podcast, but we’re solely focused on the amount of work involved, it’s so easy to overlook. It’s easy to turn away and completely miss the incredible opportunity laying at the heart of the situation. It’s easy to stick with what’s familiar. Because – again – staying with what we know is easy. And our brain likes easy.
Growth and Challenge
But if you’re a regular listener of this podcast, then you know that we’re not all about easy here. You know that we are all about growth. We are all about stepping into the next version of ourselves. We are all about challenging ourselves to go after those big goals, even if it’s uncomfortable. Because learning and growing and working for what you want makes reaching that goal even sweeter.
So my first point here is that if you’re hesitant to start that goal because it looks like too much work. Or if you’re telling yourself something’s gone wrong because you’re putting in so much extra effort in order to make things happen. Nothing has gone wrong, and in fact, you’re right on track. Because what you’re looking at is an opportunity. So roll up your sleeves, put on those overalls, and don’t miss the chance.
Get Started Before You’re Ready
Now the next idea I want to offer focuses on not “getting stuck on the how.” Let me explain what I mean by this.
One of the reasons why we either get discouraged when we’re in the middle of working toward our big goal, or we don’t even get started in the first place, is because we tell ourselves we don’t know how to do it.
We think things like, “I’ve tried everything. And I just don’t know how to get to the next level.” Or we ask ourselves, “Why should I even bother? I don’t even know where to start.”
And if you notice yourself having similar thoughts, then I want to offer the suggestion to get started before you’re ready. Because the truth is, for most of us going after something new, we will never think we’re truly “ready.”
Because so many of us are convinced that being “ready” means knowing every single step of the way. It means knowing exactly what you’re going to do. And it means not having any hiccups or challenges or bumps along the way.
But again, we all know that if you are going after something that really stretches you. If you are going after something that is truly transforming you, and you’re taking yourself to the next level, then you are going to have challenges along the way. Because you don’t know the “how” yet. You don’t know the exact step by step.
But that’s okay. That doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel and give up. Because the way you figure things out is by trying. You try and fail and try and fail until you figure out what works. And then you make progress forward, and you come upon the next obstacle. And you try and fail and try and fail once again.
Giving Up
And this reminds me of an analogy that I just love that my teacher shares when she talks about working toward a goal.
So imagine that you are driving to the grocery store. You know where you want to go. And you absolutely know you’re going to get there. But on your drive, you hit a red light on your way there.
Now, you don’t get frustrated and turn around and go home. You don’t think to yourself, I can’t believe I hit a red light. This is unacceptable. We’re just going home. Of course not. You expect to hit red lights on the way to the grocery store, this is totally normal. And in fact, you’ll probably hit a handful of them depending on how far away the store is. But you never turn around. You never consider that you made a bad decision. You don’t think, I should probably go to a different grocery store now because I hit a red light on the way to this one. No! Of course not. You expect to hit red lights, and then you keep moving forward.
You’re On The Way
And I know that in the moment when you’re working hard on a goal, and you are trying and failing over and over, it feels way more intense than simply hitting a red light. I promise you, I get that.
But what if it really is just a red light? What if it’s just a momentary pause in your path to where you’re going. Because just like the grocery store, you know exactly where you’re going. You know what you want. And you’re in your car and on the way. Nothing’s gone wrong, you don’t need to turn around and go home, nor do you need to change stores. You just stay the path, and you keep on keeping on. Because that light is going to change, and you’ll keep moving forward.
Power of Resiliency
And this brings me to my next quote but I want to share with you, which is – again – by Thomas Edison. It really speaks to the power of resiliency, and it questions the concept of failure.
And this quote is, “I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Now, chances are, you may have heard this quote before. I may have even mentioned it on the podcast, I can’t remember. But just think about it. Can you imagine trying to invent the lightbulb and failing 10,000 times until you finally found how to make it happen? Just think of the incredible dogged dedication that Edison had to have to figure it out.
We Forget the Failures
And we don’t often remember all of the failed attempts. We only remember the big success at the end. In fact, I’d be willing to argue that the most successful people in the world are also the ones who have the most failures under their belt. Because you have to fail over and over and over in order to find what works. People just don’t see or remember the failures, and especially when thinking about other people. But I assure you though there.
Famous Failures
You think about Steven Spielberg, who was rejected both of the times that he applied to film school at the University of Southern California, yet he managed to gross a mere $8.5 billion dollars from all of the films that he’s directed.
Fred Astaire, who is quite possibly one of the greatest male dancers of all time (even though Ginger Rogers did everything he did, but backward and in heels) first auditioned for the film studio RKO, and executive had noted that Astaire. “Can’t sing. Can’t act. Balding. Can dance a little.” And of course, he went on to create something like fifty movies and had massive success.
Lady Gaga was dropped by Def Jam records after 3 months. And of course, she went on to become one of the best selling artists ever. And has something like six Grammy Awards right now.
Oprah was fired from her first job as a TV news anchor because she was too “emotionally invested” in the stories that she reported on… And she now has a net worth of $3 billion dollars.
And Michael Jordan, who is arguably the greatest basketball player who ever lived, has this amazing quote, which is “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And this is why I succeed.”
Failure Allows Success
And this is so true. With each setback. With each challenge. And with each obstacle. You learn. You build on your skill-set. And you keep taking one step closer to that end goal.
Charlie Chaplin – who was a famous actor in the silent era of film has a fantastic quote, which is: “Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.” I love this message because it’s true. Chaplin is right – it does take courage to show up, be vulnerable, and try. It takes so much courage to put yourself out there. It takes courage to be brave and be bold and go after what you know in your heart you’re meant to do. And it takes courage to do all of this even if you might mess up along the way.
Practicing Courage
And that brings me to the last quote I want to share with you today, which is quite possibly my most favorite quotes of all time. It’s a quote by Mary Anne Radmacher, which is: “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”
Here’s what I know about you, friend. You are meant to do that thing you can’t stop thinking about. There’s a reason you’ve dreamed it up. There’s a reason you feel that passion inside of you. And I also know you have the courage and the determination to make it happen. So when things get hard, don’t give up. Don’t give in. Instead, dig deep. Find that courage. And try again tomorrow. Because you’ve got this. You’re going to make it happen.
So let’s do it.
Alright my friends, that’s gonna do it for us this week. So tell me, are you busy being awesome? How are you going after your dreams today? Make sure you snap a picture, share it on your Instagram stories, and tag me @imbusybeingawesome. I would love to cheer you on.
Also, if you want to keep getting more great strategies to increase your productivity, manage your time, and start living your best life, then be sure to hit the subscribe button on your podcast app now. And while you’re there, would you leave me a quick review?
And finally, are you ready to truly boost your motivation and start reaching those big goals of yours? Then you’ve got to check out my free mastering your motivation training at imbusybeingawesome.com/motivation. You’re going to love it.
Until next time, keep being awesome. I’ll talk to you soon.