Diligent Struggles

An anonymous writer said, “If you give up at the first sign of struggle, you're really not ready to be successful.” I was in a class where the majority of the students complained about how hard the class was. They channeled their energy to finding all the reasons why they needed to drop the class instead of viewing the struggle as an opportunity to gain strength and be better.

We all dealt with some kind of struggles at some point in our lives, some that even make us want to quit. But, success (accomplishing a goal) comes from allowing the struggle to make us better and coming out victorious on the other side. There are some areas that require diligent attention to acheive this kind of success.

3 Areas of Struggle to Overcome

1.    Self sabotaging – Our minds tend to be the number one down fall to our success. In our minds we tend to think negatively about ourselves first. We quickly label ourselves with thoughts of being unworthy, guilty, or discreditable. Our responses often include the “I can’t....” phrase. When sabotaging thoughts are allowed to dominate our views, they (struggles) become empowered and limit our chances for success.

Be diligent about believing in yourself! From the time you get up until the time you go to bed, be empowered with the thought of “I can...”. You may have limits and unknowns but be willing to learn and improve.  Don’t be afraid to delegate and build a team of people that can help you be strong in your weak areas. You mind is your foundation don’t sabotage it with negativity.

2.    Fear – “Holding on to fear is like holding on to fire…but worse. Fire will burn you and take your life but fear will slow your life down and drag it out making it last f-o-r-e-v-e-r.” (Angel Richards). Overcoming the struggle of fear is a big hindrance to being successful in life. Trying to operate in fear is like being stuck in the mud, a lot of spinning and noise but no movement.  When stuck with fear, we don’t want to move forward and we can't go back because we are afraid of the unknown. We are just "fear stuck".

Fear is only pushed out with faith - a hope in something that can't be seen but believed is possible in time. Have faith in yourself that you can make it. Take risks! Believe that there is a master plan for your life. Be willing to fail but don’t fail to get back up and try again. Remember, “Nothing beats a failure but a try.” That's diligently overcoming the  struggle of fear with successful faith.

3.    Un-productiveness – What we do daily builds the life we live. Some of our habits keep us forever struggling to be productive. Steve Maraboli said it best, “We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.” The unproductiveness that we may have generated from our past struggles can be changed to being productive.

Implementing these simple daily habits can help you avoid some major life struggles. Avoid overspending which leads to financial struggles. Stray from overeating which leads to struggles with health and low self-esteem. Convert lying, which leads to struggles with trust, to telling the truth. Prevent some struggles in relationships by not cheating and sleeping around. Cut out excessive partying and staying up late because they can lead to struggles in life and on the job. Run from quitting and giving up because it leads to struggles with being successful. Evade wasting time because it leads to struggling with achieving goals. Be diligent about making your life productive over common struggles.

Summary – “As I look back on my life, I realize that every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being re-directed to something better.” (Steve Maraboli) Your struggles for good and better can make you stronger if you allow them to. Work to put your mind to "thinking the best about yourself", "overcoming fear", and "being productive" every day. You can overcome your struggles with diligent efforts.

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