One of the worst feelings in the world is dedicating your time and effort into anything in life and cutting it short. Whether that being, school work, fitness goal, a relationship or even a job position you been applying for, coming so close to the prize and just falling short. Ending up back to where you started, taking too many steps back or maybe falling back to the bottom and having to start all over again. The desperate desire of finally achieving, tasting the sweet victory you been striving for all along. Your mental taste buds have been craving that feeling of accomplishment and the satisfaction you have always wanted. But you end up failing and never giving the chance of mentally licking or tasting that prize you’ve been dying to taste, not one lick. That has been the metaphor throughout my lifetime. A skill I tend to lack and improve on. My journey here on Earth, each and every day of my 19-year-old self, going on 20, has come to the realization that I always cut myself short. Regardless of the path, or the goal I try to accomplish I seem to be giving up or slacking during the times that matter the most. Afterward, I have this sincere feeling of regret and guilt, of falling so short. I tend to blame myself a lot for not working as hard as I should be throughout that particular task.
To put this more into perspective,
imagine yourself running in a triathlon competing for first place. You’ve done all the necessary and possible requirements to help you win the race. Confidently enough to win, yet terrified out the negative outcome of losing. It is during that time, your mind begins to deteriorate your mindset into losing. Furthermore, you start the race strong, keeping everything under control, breathing, running pace, and running position. Now visualize yourself running until the end and coming onto that last 400-meter mark of the race. The final stride to the finish line. Finally, be able to see the crossing line with your very own eyes. You start to get more and more nervous, as you come to finish. Your heartbreak is beating extremely fast, heavy breathing, and tired body. You cannot believe it, you’re about to make it. You’re about to win. Assuring yourself that you worked hard enough to deserve such a victory. then suddenly your system starts shutting down. You are running out of breath quicker, legs getting heavier to lift your body up each step, arms flapping, people cheering. At this point, you feel like you’re mentally and physically exhausted as if you cannot continue. Comfortable enough to finish, you start to slow down as you keep heading towards the end. This is it! You worked hard enough to come this far, but you stupidly enough slowed down, getting too comfortable, too confident, too arrogant. Suddenly you hear another set of footsteps right behind you. the man in second place’s shadow creeping up on you, catching up and that is when you start to panic the most. Coming closer you pick up your pace again and oops, out of nowhere you stumble and trip over a small rock that no one, not even yourself, can see and that caused you the race. People thinking you tripped over yourself, because of your sloppy running form and slow pace before the finish line. As you’re falling, you witness someone else, crossing the finish line before you. In your mind the person who should have been in second place guy. Seeing first place, going to someone else, that you think doesn’t deserve it as much as you do. Another person that nowhere near worked as hard as you for this race but he was the one that ended up winning. He won because he was not the one that slowed down, at the most important part of the race. That came to the final stride, and instead of slowing down like you did, rather put on his burners, bypassing you, to finish first. Him having the discipline of finishing all the way through and never slowing down. Not simply being satisfied with the outcome of coming out in second place. Convincing his capabilities to work harder, run faster, suffer more now and get the glorious prize of crossing first. As he sees you trip he ceases the opportunity of your fall and commits all the way through to the end, winning that first-place trophy.
This man did not give up, he did not make the same mistake as you by, slowing down and running, not on mine, but his own pace. That is the true disciplinary factor to any successful person. Staying true to themselves, and never giving up. Unlike you, thinking you’re guaranteed the prize, convincing yourself to slow down, to take it easy, and that the trophy will be there for you at the end. That the trophy will come to me itself. False, nothing is guaranteed. Think to yourself, constantly, “did I work hard enough?” “Did I do everything I possibly could?” Did I have the same the effort and motivate as I started? Because of the further away you are from the start, the further your motive decline, losing sight of the reason you started.
YOUR MIND CANNOT GIVE UP BEFORE YOUR BODY. Stop convincing yourself that you did enough, that “I worked hard enough, I deserve this, I will win, I got it” Bullshit! You will never win with that type of mindset. Sadly, I and I am sure several of people tend to take things that way. Manipulating yourself towards the end that, you start ” You are actually going t lose, if I don’t commit till the very end.” To fill your desire of winning that prize, or maybe running a faster time than before, or whatever goal you are pursuing to follow through all the way to the end. Or else, all your hard work will go to shallows. The moment of glory you worked profusely hard for. Reminiscing on the countless hours of training, preparing and practicing for this race to end up failing yourself. It is till the last step across the finish line, to stop. Even if that means till your last breath, your last stride, to keep on fighting. Because if you believe, you will achieve.
The hard times, where you are out of your comfortable zone, tired, and weak is when cannot stop grinding! In fact, you must work much harder. Challenge your mental toughness, discipline yourself. Be true to yourself. Finish what you started. Finish what you promised yourself. By leaping, diving, or even crawling to the finish line no matter first or not, never give up. No rock, no obstacle, no mind, can defeat you. It is unacceptable to be lazy, to make excuses, to talk your way out of things. Most people give up on their dreams because it gets too hard. DO NOT BE LIKE MOST PEOPLE. Be unique and stay true to yourself.
Versus Co. 