Successful Diligence

The difference between who you are and who you want to be, is what you (diligently) do.” say’s Bill Phillips. A few months back I was on a three day hiking trip. After day one, I had the pleasure of bringing up the rear of the group to help a young man that was struggling. To my dismay, he was wrestling with more than getting one foot in front of the other, he was struggling with being able to "do it". His comments were continually, “I’m trying, but it’s too hard."  After several hours of his complaining, I replied with, “As long as you are not diligently putting one foot in front of the other in your mind and on the ground, you are not trying and will not reach the end.” If we are not diligent with each step we too, will not be successful in our lives.

3 DILIGENT ASPECTS

1.    Constancy – If we want to get strong results this year, we must be willing to consistently overcome strong challenges. The hiker wanted to reach the goal but he didn’t want to overcome the constant struggle of the next step in his mind and on the ground.

Constantly carrying your load and doing what you might not feel like doing to reach your goals is a part of being diligent. Face your obstacles to overcome them.  Don't be afraid to mess up and fail, but don't fail to get up, learn from it, and try again. Develop the constant “I can do it attitude” all the way. Pushing and pushing yourself to be better than who you were the moment before, is your way to success.

2.    Meticulous – A great writer once said, “Winners actually do sweat the small stuff; because they know that getting the details right is the difference between success and failure.” So often it's easy to pass over the hard stuff to avoid conflict but passing a step can be detrimental to our long term success.

Be diligent about covering the right details. Decide what you are doing or have to do first. Then, comb through the details to aline yourself to the requirements. Next adjust your schedule and attitude to cover every detail. This is a skill that I constantly work on. You and I can and should be meticulous about the things that matter for success.

3.    Hard work – David Bly said, “Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.” We have become numb to the word "hard work", so much so, that we tend to turn the other way when we see it coming. Contrary to our  feelings, it is almost impossible to really succeed without putting in some blood, sweat, and tears. I’m convinced that the faster we accept hard-work the quicker we can achieve any goal or task that we face.

How diligent are you in overcoming your fear of hard-work? Don't run from it. Welcome it, because behind the proper hard-work is the success you really desire. I say proper because you can work hard in the wrong direction and on the wrong thing which can get you in the wrong place. Know where you need to work hard and put in the proper effort there, so you can reap the harvest of success.

Summary – Diligence is the constant, persistent effort of working hard to achieve a goal. Meticulously applying the right details to the proper tasks will help you achieve success. Be diligent!

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