On your marks .... set

Someone said that we should stand up to the hurdles that come our way, rather than let them defeat you.  It is how we choose to handle the hurdles, that determines how successful we will be at reaching our goals.  We should do our best with what is in front of us and we may even be surprised at how bright our future can be.  It reminds me that in life and business, it is a bit of a hurdle race where we are knelt down in the start position ready for something new and positive.  The hurdles will look high and intimidating. As the gun goes, we run towards the first hurdle and as we leap over it, we realize that the training and the effort we have put in to getting to this point, will equip us to clear the first hurdle and then drive towards the next and the next.  Sometimes, we go through times in our life when this describes our situation, we have to muster strength and effort to rise and keep our composure, straighten and then rise again.  We may clip the hurdle from time to time, but this is merely the margin between perfect and not quite, where the distinction between success and failure is very near to one another.  Many times what looks like a failure is only inches from success and we will only see it when we have reached the goal and look back at the footage, to realize how close we got to failing, but yet persevered through to success.  What is in front of us is a series of hurdles and our victories may be short lived, but each one should be celebrated and enjoyed, all be it only for a moment.  We need to keep our form throughout the race, because to be successful, requires attitude, proper coaching and  a lot of practice.  It is about reaching for the hurdle, embracing the obstacle and then snapping the leg down to be ready for the next one.  In business you need to be able to recover quickly and have a strong sense of repeating good habits.  You cannot afford to let others cause you to stumble and so to look left and right in a hurdle race, is fatal - your focus on maintaining the same pattern of steps between each hurdle, can make the difference between a first and last place.  The hurdles keep you honest and grounded and teach you that even while you may have conquered eight of the nine sets, if your focus is not there to the end, then the last hurdle can cause you to give up your lead and be pipped at the end.  Run as though the hurdles are invisible objects (like cashflow constraints, growth and risk) that cannot defeat you, but can merely slow you down.  And when you have made a decision to go flat out for your career and your happy future, then leave nothing to chance and run right through the finish line that awaits.