How to have unstoppable stickability

There is magic within you!

Don’t believe me? Then just spend a few moments contemplating your mind and body. Consider all that is going on – oxygen moving from the air, to the lungs, the blood, to the brain; your body alive and vital; your brain keeping it all working; your mind coming up with ideas and making decisions every moment of every day.

Magical, yes? So let me ask you – are you making the most of it all?

I once had the privilege to interview someone who was suffering from a terminal illness. She was at the end of her life and the conversation we had was deeply moving. The most profound moment was when she told me that she had spent her life doing what others expected of her – and that she wished she’d lived her life differently.

Think about the time between now and when you reach the end of your life. Between now and then, what do you want to achieve? Where do you want to be? And what is the gap between here and there?

We all have the opportunity to do more, to be more and to make a difference. We all have the potential to close that gap – the gap between where we are and where we want to be.

That is what this series on The Magic of Thinking and Acting Big is all about.

Stick at it

David Schwartz says in his book The Magic of Thinking Big that 95% ability is ‘stickability.’ I’m sure you know what he means.

You set a goal or make a new year’s resolution and start taking action. But it gets difficult or someone who matters to us thinks we are crazy or we just get distracted.

There is always something else to think about. It’s hardly surprising. We are living in a world where everyone wants your attention. Someone recently estimated that every one of us is bombarded with the equivalent of 7 editions of The Telegraph every single day. All of it full of reasons why it isn’t worth trying, stories of those who have tried and failed, world disasters and… videos of kittens!

No wonder we give up on that difficult path to our dreams, and settle back into comfort.

Stickability seems far too much like hard work.

Obstacles are the way

My friend, Joe De Sena is committed to getting people moving. As he travels the world on his mission, he carried with him a 20Kg kettle bell. Why? “Because,” He says, “Life is hard.”

But hard isn’t impossible. Every one of us faces adversity at some point in our lives. I’m sure, if you think about it, you can remember some tough times in your life. Perhaps you lost a loved one or had a difficult relationship with someone or a work challenge or a health issue or something else. But you are still here.

And you are stronger for it. You know more and can do more as a result. You probably did things you never thought possible and really showed stickability to come out the other side.

The challenges and obstacles of life aren’t there to get in your way. They are there to show you what you can achieve. They are there to prove what you can do.

I can predict with a fair degree of certainty that, in the future, you will face more adversity.

But why wait for that to happen before you show yourself what you can do? Why not do it anyway?

Bias towards action

Let me ask you: what does winning mean to you? What does it mean to ‘win’ at your health, your concentration, your relationships, your business, your wealth?

And what does it take to win? Is winning only possible for those with incredible talent?

Let me give you an example to explain why that’s not the case.

I used to work with Ronnie O’Sullivan who is often described as the most talented snooker player in the world. So, if all it takes is talent, he’d win everything, every time he played. Everyone else would just give up and go home.

And yes, he’s won 5 world titles but others have won them too and beaten him in the process.

His success – and the success of every other snooker player – comes from something else. It comes from practice.

Ronnie doesn’t sit back and think “I’m talented.” He dedicates time every single day to growing his talent and perfecting the gifts he’s been given. He shows incredible stickability to prepare for every match and the five world titles are his reward for that.

So what gifts do you have? And what is it that you need to practice every day to put those gifts to the best possible use and to win?

Winning isn’t ‘luck’ or ‘talent’ – its hard work. It’s what you do when no one is watching.

Love the process (3)

Just suppose I had a time machine and I could take you into the future so you could see the life you are crating for yourself. There you are, living your dream and having achieved everything you always wanted to. And your future self say to you, “This life is so wonderful and so worth it – but it was hard work to get here.”

If you knew, with absolute certainty, that you’d create that life you want, would you be prepared to do the hard work it wold take to get there?

Of course you would!

To do that, you need to stop worrying about ‘winning’ – because that’s taken care of. Instead, get lost in the process and focus on what you are doing now.

Love the practice as well as the success. Love making progress for making progress sake.

In other words – stick at it!

If you want to close the gap and be unstoppable every day then check out my free training at coaching.petecohen.com and arrange to speak to me to see how to grow your stickability.