This morning, I was reminded of a quote Bill Gates once said: “Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in ten years.”
So oftentimes, when we’re looking at what we’re doing as short term, we underestimate what it’s going to take to create that.
Take my son, Cameron, for example.
Last year, he set a goal for himself to run 100km in his school’s Run Club for the month of April.
When you achieve the 100km mark, you get a rainbow ribbon, and he wanted to get it so badly.
Every day after school, he’d run for 30 minutes. We calculated the distance he needed to cover daily for him to reach his target.
We figured out that there were 18 total running days, so we divided 100km by 18. And so that’s what he did.
He went and did just enough.
As luck may have it, one of the running days was canceled, and Cameron fell short of hitting his 100km mark.
He was frustrated, disappointed, and felt that he’d fallen just short of his goal despite his best efforts.
It got me thinking about the journey of life and goal setting.
Anything worth something is going to take everything from you.
Most of the intentions we set require more than what we initially expect.
When Run Club came around again this year, Cameron was so tempted to give up.
What’s the point? Last year was way too much effort, and I didn’t reach my goal.
But I absolutely knew that he could do it. All he needed was just a little spark to reignite his fire.
So Day One of Run Club this year, I went and ran with him.
And then… two days passed.
And then a week passed…
And suddenly, it was like a lightbulb went off.
Cameron came to me and said, “Mom, I can do this. I absolutely can do this. I’m not going to stop at 100km, I’m going to go after 110km.”
He figured that even if a day was canceled, he could still make it and get the ribbon.
He set himself up to win.
And I’m proud to announce…
HE GOT IT!
The look on his face, as he crossed that finish line, was priceless.
So today, I want to ask you this:
Where in your life have you stopped?
Where have you pulled back?
Where did you give up because it didn’t seem like things were going to come together?
The truth is: success is only one decision away.
You are just one decision away from the biggest breakthrough in your business.
And that decision is designed to help you lock in that 110km in your business.
Like Cameron, it’s time for us to all aim higher, run that extra mile and go for gold.
Are you with me? 😉
