I won’t beat around the bush with an interesting anecdote to this post because it doesn’t need one:
There are a ton of people willing to do what it takes to get there, but few who are willing to do what it takes to stay there.
Through my young life, I’ve seen many people say they have ambition, drive and motivation. I’m never one to rain on someone’s parade, and I love to support people who have the strength to persevere enough to reach their goals.
But a problem a lot of us experience once we reach our goals is we get comfortable. We soak in the glory. We look in the mirror too much and say, “Finally.”
We stop doing what it took to get us there.
This applies to all aspects of life. Relationships, job seeking, bodybuilding, classroom grades, etc.
With relationships, we may get the guy/girl we want, but as soon as we get them, we stop doing what it took to get them.
In seeking a job, we may work extremely hard to get a certain occupation, but once we’re there, our work ethic dips.
In bodybuilding, we may train diligently to get that summer bod we want, but once summer comes around, our diet is ruined because we’re having too much fun showing off our body and drinking alcohol or eating unhealthful foods more than we should.
With getting better grades in class, we may study hard for a mid-term we have coming up, but once we get that A on the test, we go back to our lazy studying habits and our grades suffer.
And it all results in the same thing: We lose what cost us so much to attain.
Why do we work so hard for someone or something just to ease up when we get them/it and watch it go away?
Having the vision to realize that keeping that someone or something is the true task is what separates those who are happy with what they get and those who get what they want.
To be honest, I’m not sure what spurred this thought from me this morning when I rolled out of bed.
Maybe it was looking at my body and noticing I was happy with it, but realizing I would not relent on my training. Or possibly thinking about that fateful day when I finally get a significant other and promising I would never stop doing what it took to get her. Or maybe it was just God sending me another sign — telling me to treat every day as if it were my first day at school/work/the gym.
Once we accept that mentality of never relenting, never being comfortable and treating every day as if we were starting from the ground up, then we can keep what we get.
Although I didn’t understand him at the time, I’ll never forget what my kindergarten teacher, Mr. Brown told me when I was 5: “It’s always harder to keep something than it was to get it.”.