YOUR STRUGGLE, YOUR CHOICE
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re working to win, if what you’re after is meaningful and significant, then struggle will be a part of your story. Sure, there are those uniquely gifted people out there who are so talented that success comes easy. But for the rest of us, real achievement will require some obstacles to overcome and some challenges to navigate. The truth is, how we choose to see those struggles, and what we decide to do with them actually reveals a lot about who we are, and a lot about how worthy we are of the success we say we’re after. Let’s look at the winning choices that defines the way of the champion, and the choices that are available to each of us - including you here today.
1) Embrace the struggle. Human nature encourages each of us to take the path of least resistance, to avoid the challenges and to pursue comfort at all costs. That’s why our natural inclination is to resent the struggle, because we’ve created this vision in our minds of effortless success. But this is a naive and in many ways ignorant approach. It’s foolish to justify that there’s any way to do something big and important without encountering some resistance. That means the first step in success is acceptance. I have to accept that choosing to compete for something that matters means choosing to invite some struggle into my experience. You have to accept that, too, and then decide if you’re willing to pay the necessary price to get what you want. Resenting the struggle is evidence that maybe you’ve got a naive, and ignorant, or even a foolish perspective on what winning requires from you, or maybe it’s just evidence that you aren’t actually willing to pay the necessary price. Embracing the struggle, on the other hand, is evidence that you see clearly exactly what winning is gonna take, and that you’re willing to pay the necessary price.
2) Endure the struggle. Angela Duckworth is an American researcher and author of the outstanding book Grit, which she defines as “passion and perseverance for long-term goals.” If there’s one word that defines the champion’s winning pursuit, it would be that word. Champions are gritty. They have embraced the long and often difficult journey of high achievement, and they’ve accepted that their road to success is gonna be filled with plenty of twists and turns, probably some detours, and even a few roadblocks. There’s no telling what exactly today’s experience might include, but regardless of what’s to come, the champion’s decision to endure has already been made. It’s worth stopping to consider today whether or not you’ve made that same choice - whether or not you’ve chosen to muster up the passion and perseverance it takes to fight again today. That’s a question you can bet you’ll be required to answer again tomorrow.
3) Enjoy the struggle. Did I just say…enjoy the struggle? What kind of sick and twisted individual could possibly enjoy the challenges and difficulties of the day ahead? Believe me, I get it. This is one of the most challenging choices to make. But I should clarify that I’m not defining enjoyment here as some fleeting feeling, and I’m not suggesting that you should be smiling, skipping, and singing your way through your struggles today. I’m talking about a deeper level of personal pride and self-satisfaction that comes with recognize that your struggles are evidence that today you’ve chosen to step in the arena and compete. I’m talking about the pride and satisfaction of recognizing that this challenge you’re facing proves that what you’re doing is meaningful and significant, and that this difficult moment provides you with an opportunity to validate again today who you are and what you’re all about. I’m talking about the pride and satisfaction that comes with knowing that today you’ve chosen to take another step closer to the success you say you’re after.
The struggle is real for each of us, including - I’m guessing - for you here today. There’s no denying it and no avoiding it. But I hope you can see that the decision you get to make there in the midst of that struggle is real, too. You can’t deny that or avoid that, either, that you and only you are the one responsible for how you choose to show up today, and how you choose to respond in your moments of testing. I want to encourage you today to choose the way of the champion. Embrace it. Endure it. Maybe even enjoy it today. It’s not easy, but it is possible, because it’s your struggle…and your choice.
