Motivation and Encouragement for the New Year

This is a motivational post. Read it from whichever perspective you find yourself at the moment. If it’s for blogging, for a hobby, for business, for relationships, for a lifestyle, for entrepreneurship, for exercising, or even just for a New Year’s resolution; the encouragement holds true for all.

I shared some of my dreams and goals for the new year with a mentor the other day and his enthusiastic response was ‘2012 is your year. Go get it before someone else does!’ There is nothing unique or remarkable about that bit of encouragement, but it resonated with me and reignited the kindling fire inside.

Motivational author John Mason once wrote “all great achievements require time and tenacity. Be persevering because the last key on the ring may be the one that opens the door. Hanging on one second longer than your competition makes you a winner.”

Clearly in life, business or any type of dream it’s not the pace at which you ‘attack’ it, but rather the ability to stick it out and never throw the towel in. Let the journey be the enjoyment, and don’t focus only on the end product because you might miss a lot of beautiful moments along the way.

Robert Green Ingersoll once said, “Happiness is not a reward – it is a consequence. Suffering is not a punishment – it is a result.” Keep doing the right thing and eventually the right result will be your outcome.

Galatians 6 vs 9 reads “let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up”.

I attended a conference recently where renowned blogger Seth Godin was speaking about making a difference in the world in whatever field lies your passion. He made a statement that really stood out for me, “if you’ve already made up your mind that failure is not an option, you have just announced to the world that neither is success.”

What he means by that is that it’s impossible to be really creative, successful or unique without failing many times first along the journey. It’s through our failures that we learn how to do it better. And it’s through our ‘nearly-there’ efforts that we find inspiration and the determination to keep plugging away.

H. Stanley Judd puts it this way, “don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t waste energy trying to cover up a failure. If you’re not failing, you’re not growing.”

From failures and mistakes we learn to look at challenges from a different perspective; instead of seeing an impossibility we see the need to shift our focus and gaze upon a situation which is crying out to be conquered in a better manner.

Don’t let idiots and idioms stop you from having a fantastical fruitful year: don’t listen to the idiots who spout idioms and clichés such as “don’t bite off more than you can chew” or “Live within your means”, or “Be a self-made man”.

Be encouraged to bite off more than you think you can chew; take a big leap out of your comfort zone. This is where you will grow the most, conquer the challenges and find the most satisfaction. When we start to take calculated risks, we also discover a lot more about ourselves and sometimes find a strength of character we never knew we had.

I can’t handle it when people refer to someone as being a self-made man; to me there is no such thing.  No-one has got to where they are today without some form of help along the way, whether it be a referral, an early promotion, a loan, or just some great advice in passing.

Even the most successful of solo entrepreneurs have a team of employees or consultants pushing along their empire. Tim Redmond says this on the subject, “Tunnel vision tells you nobody is working as hard you are. It is an enemy of teamwork. It is a door through which division and strife enter.”

So whichever area of your life you are hoping to improve, whether a business, a healthier lifestyle, a job, a relationship, an art or craft, don’t get discouraged; all the indications point to the situation always improving when you are determined not to give up.

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