As I write to you, we are officially a few weeks into the fourth quarter of 2021. I hope that you can look back on the third quarter with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Most of all, I hope that you are making progress on your goals and seeing your vision manifest. So many people never want to assess their progress for a quarter. However, it is impossible to know how you are doing without taking the time to assess your actions. You cannot reposition for greater results without evaluating your current performance. Take some time to look back at the last three months and be honest with yourself about your results. You cannot move forward without observing where you failed and where you can improve. I want to share some insights with you on the importance of perseverance in accomplishing your goals and manifesting your vision. I hope you will apply these principles and advance in every area of your life.
- You have to be honest if you want to make progress in your life. In this era of positivity and inspiration, I think that we do ourselves a great disservice when we are dishonest about our lives. While I am not saying that it is anything wrong with inspiration and motivation, what I am saying is that dishonesty is one of the surest routes to a disempowered life. Every day that I was not willing to be honest with myself, I hindered my progress and hijacked my potential. On the other hand, when I was willing to be honest about my life, that is, when I was empowered to alter my world. Dishonesty might provide you with a temporary sense of relief. However, being dishonest will only produce cycles of regret in your life. I want you to take some time and get honest with yourself. Be honest about your results or the lack thereof. Be honest about the areas of your life that you want to improve. Be honest about where you are in relation to your goals. Most of all, be honest about your mental state and your emotional state. You will always be troubled by what you are unwilling to be truthful about. Anything that you build on deception will ultimately self-destruct. Do an honest assessment of your life so that you can be empowered to advance and thrive.
- Take the time to audit where you are investing your time. As a highly respected thought leader and success mentor, many people seek me out for advice and counsel on achieving their goals and realizing their dreams. The thing that I find interesting is that we live in a culture that says that they want help; however, I have discovered that most people do not want help at all; they just want a quick fix. So when I tell a person that you have to aggressively guard where you spend your time, I am always amazed at the strange looks and blank stares. Honestly, you cannot waste your days binge watching shows on Netflix and scrolling through social media and think that you are going to be highly effective. How do you think I have written ten books? How do you think I have had a podcast reaching around the world for more than a decade? More importantly, how do you think I have become an award-winning entrepreneur and respected thought leader? I can promise you that none of my success is by chance. Every success in my life has been intentional. Furthermore, every success is my life is the product of proper investment of time. I guard my calendar and I choose my priorities. If you do not audit your time, then you will never be empowered to eliminate the distractions that stand in the way of you and the life of your dreams. I cannot tell you how many people I have talked to that have told me that they do not have time to work on their goals. However, when I conducted an audit of their time, I showed them that they had plenty of time to accomplish their goals and manifest their vision. The reality is that they have never made this a priority in their lives. Your life will never produce what you have not prioritized.
- You must build mental muscles. In the ten books that I have written, each one has addressed some aspect of the mind. Why? Nothing changed in my life until I challenged my thinking. In fact, I believe that a challenged mind is the catalyst for manifestation in every area of your life. When was the last time you devoted serious time to the development of your mind? Notice that I did not say developing a morning routine or a success habit. I want you to think about how serious you have been about the development of your mind. While people around the world recognize me today as a revolutionary thinker, not very long ago I was a restricted thinker. In other words, I thought in limitations and restrictions. It was only when I started to do the mental work that change started happening in my life. Building mental muscles is about more than inspiration and motivation. Building mental muscles will require intention, deconstructing thought patterns, dismantling psychological constructs, and creating new paradigms. This is not an overnight process. Your belief system was not formed overnight and it will not change overnight. The attention you give your mind will determine the abundance of your moments. The neglect of your mind will always hinder the momentum of your life. The muscles of the mind will require reprogramming, renewal and resetting on a consistent basis. Living adjusted to an old paradigm is one of the greatest aborters of human potential.
- You must persevere in the midst of opposition. While I have shared some really great insights with you, the reality is that you will never see manifestation in your life without perseverance. I define perseverance as the ability to persist until you are victorious. In other words, perseverance is the ability to not be deterred by distractions, shaken by storms, dismantled by disruptions, or restricted by resistance. Perseverance is the ability to overcome everything that is opposing greatness in your life. Essentially, perseverance is having the inner fortitude to press your way into prophetic fulfillment. Perseverance does not stop because of obstacles and does not become impatient because of the time that it takes for a promise to manifest. Perseverance is resolute and determined to see results. Perseverance to me is executing without any excuses. Perseverance does not consider conditions, contradictions, or confliction. Perseverance will empower you to persist until you possess the promise. Perseverance is in the DNA of every champion and part of the foundation of every finisher. If you want to fulfill your purpose and maximize your greatest potential, then you must possess the spirit of a finisher. A finisher will not stop short of prophetic fulfillment.