When the going gets tough, what keeps you going?

Remember that phrase “When the going gets tough, the tough get going?” I do. I don’t even remember when the first time I heard it was. But it pops up in my head every now and again.

The problem with that is, it’s missing something.

Not that I’m saying we need to change the phrase.

Rather, we need to add our own personal touch to it.

Ok, so the going has gotten tough. Now the tough get going, right? But how?

If you’ve lost your job, lost your fortune, or heaven forbid lost your child, how do you pick yourself back up and continue on down the road?

My answer won’t be the same as yours (or maybe it is, who knows?), but here’s a little insight for me.

I’m not that different from “them”

We all have someone we idolize. Someone we look up to, who is such an inspiration. We’d be that person if we could be.

And yet, if only we’d realize that we are that person, we’d be much better off.

Ok, so we’re not literally Tony Robbins. Or Gary Vaynerchuk. Or whoever it is you look to for inspiration.

But when you dig down into it, you realize that we’re not that different from them.

It’s like Steve Jobs said:

Everything around you that you call life was made up by people who were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.

The realization that you can do anything that they are doing is incredibly empowering.

Granted, you have to put in the work. You have to show up every day, working on yourself, working on your craft, and constantly putting yourself out there.

But if you do that long enough, and you’re good enough, then amazing things are going to happen for you.

You’re not just fighting for yourself

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention families on Father’s Day. If you have one, then you’re not just fighting for yourself. You’re fighting for them.

You’re fighting to give them the opportunities that you didn’t have.

You’re fighting to allow them to live a life you never lived.

Because ultimately, we always want better for our children than we had for ourselves.

All of us have equal opportunity to make our mark on the world. The great level-setter for us is the mobile device. That thing that we wouldn’t dare leave home without.

Through any number of social networks we can communicate with anyone around the world at near instant speeds. Isn’t that fantastic?

Pulling it all together

These two forces are a powerful motivator for me.

  1. Knowing that I’m not that different from “them”
  2. Knowing that I’m not just fighting for myself

We’ve all faced some degree of adversity, and fought our way through some hardships. The ability to pull ourselves out of bed every morning and get back to it should be considered downright miraculous sometimes.

What about you? What drives you to continue moving forward?

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