Chasing waterfalls & burning ships

So, who enjoys waiting?? …*crickets*...

Yeah, we’re right there with you. Have you ever had to wait and work for something that seemed like it was taking FOREVER or that reaching the goal was so. far. away?

Patience can be a challenging lesson to learn, but it is one that we keep coming across. Entrepreneurship has taught us that building a business is largely one long lesson in patience and persistence—much like many of the important accomplishments in life.

There’s a secret formula to help with patience that you might not know about—we’ll share that in a second.

But first, a little story...

Let’s say you wanted to swim in a waterfall.

At least we really did. In fact, it was on our life goals list.

And you found a waterfall that you wanted to hike to, you picked a day to go on the hike, and you drove to the starting point.

...and it started raining.

Slippery mud and hiking in sandals isn’t exactly a winning formula, but you’re here, it’s your last day, and this is your chance.

What do you do?

This is the point where you have to decide. Do you stick it out or bag it?

Here’s the secret formula…

1. Know your why
2. Burn the ships (not bridges)
3. Stay in your lane

Simple? Yes. 
Powerful? You bet.

Here’s why.

No one sticks to something that is pointless and painful.

You have to clearly identify the underlying motivation behind your goal, and THAT is what will serve as your driving force to continue when you want to give up. 

That’s when you’ll remind yourself, as we often do, “I didn’t come this far to only come this far.”

So, we kept on hiking to the waterfall, even though at this point we are getting soaked. This was our chance.

Secondly, you’ve got to burn the ships.
Meaning, you take yourself past the point of no return and truly commit to the WHY.

It’s not that you don’t have an out, which is precisely why you never burn your bridges. Relationships are how everything gets accomplished.

It’s that you are no longer straddling the fence. You’ve made the decision to commit to pursuing this goal with all your effort.

Now, we understand that you might have second thoughts now and again; that’s just human nature.

But once you’ve truly committed, you’ll know deep down inside that there is no way you’d turn back.

We watched people turn around due to the rain, but we kept on walking.

Finally, in order to stick it out with patience, you have to stay in your lane.

This is a hard one...even for the pros (remember the infamous Chad Le Clos moment swimming against Michael Phelps?)

Comparison is often the first thing that happens when we start to take our eyes off the “WHY” and become distracted by what others are doing.

It’s a sure way to deteriorate your progress, drive, and keep you from the very thing you are working so hard to obtain.

We’ve learned that you’ve got to commit to playing the long game...even when those around you seem to be getting ahead faster.

So, back to the story.
Guess what happened?

We stuck to the goal and got to swim in this glorious waterfall all by ourselves.
And it was SO WORTH IT!

So, when you follow this 3 step formula:

1. Know your why
2. Burn the ships (not bridges)
3. Stay in your lane

...you’ll be able to live up to this quote, which is the underlying motto of the successful.

“Do what most people don’t so you can have what most people won't.”

P.S. If you found this helpful and want to make sure you're setting the right kind of goals, click here!