Challenges To Be Overcome

Substance of achievement

It is far better for you to earn something and not have it than to have something and never earn it. When you’ve truly earned something, there is a valuable and important part of it that can never be taken away.

To wish that all the treasures of life would simply and easily be given to you is to wish for nothing of any real value. It is in the effort, the discipline, the commitment to reach it, that achievement yields true meaning.

Dream the biggest, most spectacular, fulfilling and meaningful dream that you can imagine. And know that the moment you begin to earnestly and steadily work your way toward it, the richness of that dream is yours to experience.

What you desire is not what you really desire. What you really desire is to be the person you must become in order to achieve it.

What you really desire is to matter, to make a difference, to add your own special essence and flavor to life. What will bring you fulfillment is to create, express and bring to life, in your own way, the unique beauty of your spirit.

Look past the mere trinkets and artifacts of achievement. Focus on the substance of achievement that lives in the effort, the passion, the commitment, and the persistence.

There you’ll find real and lasting value. 

Learn and understand

Sometimes learning can feel like a chore. Sometimes it seems that learning is just the mundane, yet necessary thing you must do before you undertake whatever it is you really want to do.

Yet learning is much more than that. In additional to showing you what action to take, learning also can significantly increase the effectiveness of that action.

Learning is not merely an obligatory step on the path to action. Learning has a value all its own, a value that lasts long after you’ve completed whatever it was that compelled you to learn in the first place.

Learning not only enables you to know what and how. It also provides you the opportunity to understand why.

Understanding why can add enormous value and effectiveness to anything you do. When you have a solid grasp of the fundamental concepts behind your actions, you give the power of purpose to those actions.

Leverage the energy of your efforts. Learn so that you can do, and so that you will understand. 

Make the attempt

Everything you accomplish, you must first attempt. So get busy making those attempts.

Procrastination and excuses do not lead to achievement. The way to make it happen is to make the attempt.

You may very well fall short on the first few attempts. There may very well be plenty of good reasons to give up.

Even so, keep making the attempt. Action and persistence will get you everywhere.

How do you get yourself to make the attempt? By connecting that attempt, and the achievement it will ultimately bring, with a real and meaningful purpose deep within you.

When you are clear about why you must do what you must do, you’ll have no trouble finding the will and the commitment to step boldly forward. Make the attempt, as often as necessary, and you will surely make it happen. 

Set yourself free

Let go of the need to support your own ego, and you’ll free up an enormous amount of time and energy. Get beyond the shallow concerns of that ego, and you enable yourself to truly and fully live each moment.

Break free of the petty demands of your ego, and everything you do becomes more genuinely fulfilling. Leave your ego behind when you go out into the world, and your relationships will flourish like never before.

Of the factors that can hinder your progress, your ego is one of the most insidious. For the more it holds you back, the more it demands of you, and the more it demands of you, the more powerful it becomes.

Yet you have what it takes to break that cycle. For what it really takes is nothing more than the willingness to leave the limitations of your ego behind.

Choose to focus not on what you can take and hoard from each situation, but rather on what you can give and on the things you can cause to grow. Decide to expand your focus beyond your own concerns, and you’ll greatly expand your influence.

Consider how much more bold, effective, creative and productive you can be when you are beyond the reach of the constant demands of your ego. Then choose to set yourself free. 

Live your passion

What are you passionate about? Dare to express and expand that passion in everything you do.

Stand back and look at your life from a distance, as an objective observer. What you’ll see is a pattern, a common thread running through all the various aspects of all that you have done.

That common thread is connected to a passion living deep inside of you. The more fully you allow that passion to flow from you, the more richness your life will know.

The more readily you admit and express that passion to yourself and to the world, the more fulfilling your moments will be. Keeping it hidden and suppressed will only lead to pain and regret.

There is a passion in you that is constantly pushing to see the light of day. Let it out and let it grow.

That passion is a unique and precious gift that you have to offer to life. Give it freely, with vigor, with courage, with love, and let all truly experience its special value. 

Awareness beyond thought

Your thoughts and sensations may often dominate your awareness. Remember, though, that your awareness exists beyond them.

Even when your thoughts are completely calmed, you are still very much aware. The thoughts and sensations come and go, and behind them all is your ever-present awareness.

The thoughts you have are the thoughts you choose to hold. They are not you.

Although you may have been stuck in a negative, destructive thought pattern for years or even for decades, you always have the choice of letting it go. For ultimately, your thoughts do not create you or define you, and they do not have to hold you hostage.

When you know that you do not have to think, then you are free to think whatever you choose. When you experience your thoughts and sensations as objects flowing through your awareness, then they no longer have the power to hold you back.

Your mind is an enormously powerful tool that is yours to use as you choose. Cultivate awareness beyond your thoughts, and put all those thoughts to use in a positive, meaningful way. 

Work to be done

As long as there is work that must be done in this world, there is opportunity. And there is always much work to be done.

As long as there are problems to be solved, there is a clear and accessible pathway to success. And there are always problems to be solved.

As long as there are challenges to be overcome, there is a way for you to create whatever things of value you envision for your life and your world. And there are always challenges to be overcome.

When it seems that there is no end to the work that must be done, stop and consider just what that means. It means that the future can be very bright indeed.

For when there is much work to be done, there is much to be gained by doing it. Wherever there is work to be done, there is buried treasure waiting to be unearthed.

Be the person who rushes quickly in the direction of the work that is to be done. And you’ll be the person who tastes life’s treasures in abundance.

— Ralph Marston