We all have goals that we want to achieve. Some are long term, and some are short term. We have all tried to lose/gain weight. We have all tried to set a personal best record in the gym. We have all tried to write a book. We have all tried to start a business. Unfortunately for most people we come up short in our endeavors. At some point we quit before we can get to the finish line. It feels like a force that we cannot control takes over. We fuck up and miss a mark. We skip a day at the gym, we skip a day of reading, or we just fall short of the commitment that we have set for ourselves.  After the first fuck up we miss another day and another day. Eventually we lose all our progress and must start over all over again. Once we get back to the beginning, we say that we failed. Next time I will go harder for my goal. I will never mess up again.

            That form of thinking is problematic. We are humans and we are guaranteed to fall of the wagon. A slip up should be expected and planned for. We are not superhuman. Life gets in the way; responsibilities get in the way. You will lose If you don’t have a contingency plan for when you drop the ball. Missing a day at the gym doesn’t make you lose all your gains. It is when you miss weeks at the gym. If you have scheduled writing and you miss a few sessions, you don’t forget the story you were writing. If you miss weeks of writing and then come back, you may lose your train of thought. There is a way to stop this behavior or starting up and the stopping. You must plan that you will fuck up at some point. You must know what you are going to do in the event you miss a day of HUSTLING. How long will you allow yourself to fall of the wagon before you get back on? This must be decided in advance.

            Momentum works in either direction, good or bad. You can use your momentum to push you toward your goal, or you could let momentum push you away from your goal. Success is a bumpy road. You are not constantly improving, at some point, you will fall off. At some point, you will lose your consistency and fail backwards. Your success depends on how far you will fall before you get back up. Will you fall back to where you stared in the beginning? The key is to get back up as soon as possible so you can improve.

            Let me tell you a story. There was a guy that was 310lbs mostly fat with a tiny bit of muscle. This fat guy decided he would start a diet to lose some weight. He had a goal to lose 30 lbs in 2 months. For the first week he sticks to the diet and lost 5 lbs. He was starting to gain a little confidence and said to himself,” that was easy Imma crush this shit.” The second week passed and the diet was going strong he lost another 5 lbs. “Man I’m 1/3 the way there, this shit was supposed to be hard”, he chuckled as he stood on the scale. On the third week his job needed him to cover an extra load. He missed a day at the gym, but it was no big deal. He thought he would make up the day later in the week. While he was working long hours, he had a snack. He had already missed a day at the gym, and he was working longer hours one snack couldn’t hurt. It was too late momentum switched directions. He missed the gym and ate snacks all week, the week after that, and the week after that. He started to feel sluggish, tired, and heavy. He got on the scale and he was 320 LBS!!!! He did not believe that he would fall off and had no plan to catch himself. Not only did he get to where he started; he ended up farther away from accomplishing his goal.

            That fat dude was me lol. Learn from my mistakes and pick yourself up as soon as you can. Even if you fall, dust yourself off and get back to it as soon as possible. That way you won’t lose as much ground.  Stay HUSTLING, STAY GRINDING, AND STAY DANGEROUS!