Motivation and drive

Recently (as in: this weekend) my friend G attended the IDFA middleweight championships as a competitor. I had known for some time that he had been working towards this goal (at least 6 months, probably closer to 9). I also knew that he was in pretty good shape to start.

I did not expect him to win - but he did.

Which made me think.

He set a goal for himself. A big one. And carried it out. I've set goals for myself and fall short. Why? What's different between what he's done, and what I keep failing to do?

Dedication? Probably. He fixed his mind to the task, and stuck through everything to get there. I tend to be dedicated at the start, but it drops off quick.

Persistance? Also probably. My persistance on a task can be really low. For me, persistance is like dedication, but comes after dedication fails. Persistance is all about picking yourself back up and re-dedicating yourself to the goal. And, the shorter the timeframe between falling down and getting back up, the better.

Self-control? Maybe. I do tend to make poor choices for myself, and even when I notice I'm making a poor choice, I just keep going with it.

These are things that give me trouble. I need to start enforcing my own decisions, and keeping myself focused, dedicated and on task. I need to be persistent. I need to keep getting up just one more time than I've been knocked down.

I know I can do it. I know I can.