Pretty gritty heading for personal success eh?

Now, I have nobody to quote on this particular heading to give it additional credibility as I can’t remember who said it but I have a funny feeling it was one of the great people I have around me who no doubt caught me bitching and moaning about something when I was feeling “less than resourceful”.

I was keen to enjoy personal success…. but was I prepared to pay the price?

The meaning that I received from it was that if you want something that is really, REALLY worth it, you have got to be prepared to go out and get it and endure things that are going to make you very uncomfortable.

I see this from time to time in people that are aspiring to greater personal success but become very frustrated and sometimes even resentful when they have to “feel a bit of pain” to get to the ultimate goal.

I also think that our generation are more inclined to expect “more reward for less effort” than previous generations due to the situation we have grown up in.

Times are easier right now than they have ever been before. I am sure we have all heard our parent or grandparents going on about “When I was your age, I used to have to walk to school… in the snow…. backwards… after milking the cows….. *** add anything that fits your experiences….** and perhaps, like me, you rolled your eyes and said “Oh boy, here we go again…!”

Also, we are children and grandchildren of people who lived through World Wars where life for everyone was much tougher. Conscription meant that sons, husbands and fathers all had to go out to defend their countries. Without exception. And for the women and children left at home, food rations, black outs, the constant threat of air raids and the calling to arms to work in the munitions factories led to a very different ”life experience” to what we have today. I have often asked myself how my generation would have survived a World War like that…. I am left undecided.

Do we really want personal success…. that badly?

In 2011 we live in a world of “instant gratification” and certainly a world of more choice than ever before – not least of all pertaining to personal success.

This is due to a few things including the internet, technology doubling every 6 months, the commercial world becoming more and more competitive (giving the consumer more and more choice) and I am convinced that this has had a knock on in the type of people we have become.

We now suffer more obesity in Western Societies than ever before. People are starting to develop injuries and sicknesses, such as RSI (repetitive stress injury) that have never been seen prior to the last 30 years.. I guess though, on the plus side, leprosy is something we have all but conquered – so it is given and take

Now this brings me back to the heading of this post, “I want to go to Heaven… but I don’t want to Die”. I have a concern  that, as an instant gratification generation, we have forgotten a bit about what got us to where we are. Through things  like “Get Rich Quick Schemes, “Miracle Weight Loss Programs”, The Lotto, Reality Song Contests ( If Suzie Boyle can do  it.. I think I might give it a go!! ). We believe in overnight personal success.

….A shorter measure for personal success….?

We are often led to believe that there is a “Quick Fix” Solution out there.

However, it is my conviction that expecting “something for nothing” goes against one of the natural laws of the world. Anything of worth takes time to achieve. If you look into nature, it takes 9 months for a baby to go from conception to birth, it takes years for a tree to grow, it takes months to get fit enough to run a marathon… so what makes us believe that we can achieve personal success in a very short time without going through some discomfort – of at least getting out of our comfort zones….?

When you are out there, working on your new business idea, working on hitting your sales target or designing, testing and retesting your new direct response market strategy, if its going to be of any worth, I guarantee you that you are going to hit frustrations. You are going to hit road blocks and you are going to run into people that laugh at your idea. Your faith in yourself and your objective is going to be tested. You are going to feel like you want to give up. The strangest thing is – most people DO give up….. just before they are about to break through to their own personal success.

Have a GREAT week folks

Paul Harrison

Do you believe there is a big price to pay for personal success…?