This little guy just cracks me up.

I like that he has found a solution. So many times, we look at the situation or trap before us and we simply walk away or let it snap our necks without ever trying to come up with a way around the problem.

A Coach’s Lesson

I ran high hurdles, low hurdles, triple jump and long jump my freshman year in high school. Almost 40 years later, I still remember a couple of meets. One that always comes to mind was particularly bad for me.

I am right handed and was running in a race next to a left-handed person. We got to the first hurdle at exactrly the same time.

Ordinarily this wouldn’t have been a problem, because two right-handed people would have a left trailing leg. But as he was on my left and I on his right, our trailing legs/feet collided and I fell flat on my face.

I backed up a little, took 5 quick steps and made it over the 2nd hurdle. In (high or indoor) hurdles, there’s a rule. It’s three steps between hurdles. If you ever have to baby step (take five steps), you never try to go back and triple step. I had too much confidence. I tried to 3-step the third or fourth hurdle, but had to stop because I didn’t have the speed or power. I kicked it over and went to the next hurdle. I hit that one and fell again. By this time, everyone else was crossing the finish line. I got up, ticked off as all hades and walked off the track. As I did, I looked up and saw my caoch sitting in the stands next to his wife. He lowered his eyes a second and shook his head.

When he looked back at me, he gave me the come here finger.

I walked up there and he said, “I’m disappointed in you. (Crush went my heart). I don’t care if you have to kick over every hurdle. You always finish the race.”

And that’s what I learned. Go over, under, through or around every hurdle in your way, but always finish the race.

Galaxy Quest

If you haven’t seen the movie Galaxy Quest, I recommend it. Not that it’s a highly motivational movie, but it’s a good, cheesy Tim Allen flick. There is a line in there that I often repeat.

Never give up. Never surrender.

The instructor for my first job after college told me, after a six-week training period, “Boy, you would argue with a stop sign.”

I said, “Yes, I would if it didn’t belong there.”

Along the road in life, you will have many stop signs. Most of them will come in the form of people. They’ll be telling you things like, “You need to stop.” “Quit.” “Chase another dream.”

Some stop signs will say or do other things to get you to stop. They’ll try to divert your attention away from the task at hand, away from the goal you have set in your mind. Perhaps they will vie for your time or they will convince you to skip the gym for a day, a week, or–like covid–a month or more.

Most of these are external stop signs, competing with your internal stop signs that suggest, “You’ll never get there. This is a waste of time. You should be doing such-and-such instead.” Or it will be body aches, pains, illnesses that attempt to convince you that you are incapable of achieving your goal.

Argue with those stop signs!

When everyone and everything in the world is telling you you shouldn’t or you can’t, it’s up to you to argue with those stop signs and say Yes, you will! No one can overcome the objections and obstacles standing in your way but you. Argue with those stop signs. Refuse to obey them.

But Remember

Only argue with the stop signs that don’t belong where they are. That’s the tricky part. If you were driving on a private road on your property and someone threw up a stop sign without the weight of law behind it, chances are, you’d blow it off. It’s a completely different story when you’re on a busy highway and come up to a stop sign where the police are sitting on the side of the road. Argue with, and object to stop signs that don’t belong in your life.

Too old? Hogwash.

Too weak? Boloney.

No time? Maybe, maybe not. The better question is: Is it a priority? If it is a priority, you will make time for it. If it isn’t, you won’t.

Staying Motivated

Maintaining motivation is often a difficult task, especially when they are long-term goals. For example, my starting to learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a very long-term goal. There are so many aspects to learn, especially for a beginner. One way I am trying to maintain my motivation is through the belt system. Even though in our 10th Planet studio, we are NoGi, we still have belts. I purchased a white belt so I have something to look at that will remind me there is a step I am on and another step in front of me.

If your goal is something like sales, try breaking it down into smaller goals and then have a visual reminder of why you want to achieve that goal. Are you wanting extra money for a trip to France? Tape pictures of brasseries and the Eiffel Tower up around the house and in your vehicle. Do you want a new house? Look at magazines often. Find pictures of houses you aspire to buy.

Think of yourself on a float on a river. Motivation is like the river. It has to keep moving and carrying you along. If the river stops, so do you.