I am Glad Success is Hard, here is Why! On the surface success is very difficult to attain especially when you are fooling with it – playing baby games. The definition of success and / or successful, according to Merriam-Webster is the correct or desired result of an attempt. The correct or desired result is only generalizing what YOU may define success as, so of course this is the best definition because it balloons your idea of the word. With that said, let’s look deeper for the reason I am so Glad it’s hard and takes major effort through resistance and tension. If any ol’ Joe would approach success wholeheartedly until completion, then everyone would do it. I am here to say everyone CAN do it, but it’s obvious many won’t succeed. Do you know why? It’s because its HARD WORK which requires discipline, big think, positive think, dedication, persistence, massive personal improvement, focus, assertiveness, communication, early mornings, late nights, failure, risk, training, action, strategic thinking, cutting off individuals, saying no to friends, investing everything, writing down goals, huge targets, will power, positive habit, courage, control, perseverance, honesty, ethics, comfort killing, writing, social accountability, accountability, motivation, vision, self-awareness, growth, grit, being ruthless, integrity, power, time, and getting your hands dirty & disgusting. GET DUSTY So, what does ol’ Joe do? He quits. He quits after day 5, month 5 or year 5. He falls back into the welcoming hands of comfort. That’s why I am glad. It is because if any ol Joe really wants it – any ol’ Joe has to put in the work, but any ol’ Joe won’t, therefore he’s the same ol’ Joe. A friend of mine will not do whatever it takes. I give her knowledge about everything and she shoots it down with her actions. Why should it be easy for her and people like her? They want the gold but won’t dig for it even after you hand them the blueprint and map of where its located. For years, I didn’t understand this concept and for years I continued to quit when I was met with resistance. I never understood what success actually meant. I didn’t even look the word up. Here’s the definition again. Success is the correct or desired result of an attempt. Here’s the worst part. I didn’t even know what I desired or the result I wanted to achieve. How the hell can I then gain success? It’s not possible. This is the part of the definition I love and the concept I had to etch in my mental. The “attempt”! Whoa… what does that mean. Let’s look it up. Let’s pull out my favorite dictionary, Merriam-Webster, which says to make an effort to do, accomplish, solve, or effect is to “attempt” This is where we fail, boys and girls. We don’t make an effort and there is nothing we are trying to make the effect. If we did, then we would understand that we would then be the “CAUSE” of that attempt. We are the attempts. We caused the effect which is to achieve the correct or desired result. We can’t effect an effect and expect to reach success. We also cannot cause a cause and expect the same thing. To Cause a Cause = Canceled out. Fail. “I want to get started (cause) but I don’t know when (cause)” To Effect an Effect = Canceled out. Fail. “I work in a low wage industry (effect) and I don’t have money (effect)” You can only marry the two to get an attempt (strive, try) or you’re pretty much in the stationary, static, immobile, inanimate. You cannot produce if you are not moving. Do you agree? You cannot attempt if you do not try. The antonym of the word attempt is to QUIT. To not complete an action is to QUIT. Some of us already quit in our heads. They look at the road ahead and complain of its length – or its vastness. Marrying Cause and Effect will be the best thing ol’ Joe can ever do for himself. We are always attempting something, it’s just a matter of the end result. If someone attempts suicide, god forbid, he/she will either live (failure) or die (successful). Get it? If someone attempts college, he or she will either pass (successful) or fail (failure) but the magic is even if that person fails and has a desired result to be successful, then he/she will always attempt until the correct, or desired result is achieved. So yes, failure after an attempt is okay! And yes, you attempt hundreds of things every day. For instance, my desired result is to go to work today. I get up, shower, get dressed and drive to work (attempt = successful). Success can be as little or as big as you want depending on your desired result! The bigger your success, the more you want out of life the more effort is required of you. So, if you are like me and our army of Comfort Killers – then you want it all. You attempt everything in life to achieve a desired result. You are the cause of everything and the effect of your attempts are purposeful. I’m glad it’s hard. Remain uncomfortable, Stacy Cross