The truth is that discouragement can yield defeat or triumph when trying to maintain a healthy weight. This is an ongoing battle for most people. The desire to persevere alone isn’t enough to keep most of us going when we are tired or discouraged. So how do we persist in doing something despite the difficulty or delay in achieving our success?
John Maxwell is a very well-known author, international speaker and pastor. He has written numerous books, primarily focusing on leadership. He has sold millions of copies, many of which have been on the New York Times Best Seller List. His approach is to show us how to eliminate the things that get in our way of achieving long-term success. Below is Maxwell’s list.
Strongholds You Need to Eliminate for Success
A Lifestyle of Giving Up
Many of us learned this at a very young age. We wanted things to come easy or to work out without too much effort on our part. It got hard, we got discouraged and we gave up. There’s no doubt that giving up is the easy thing to do in many situations, especially when we’ve been programmed to want to take the easy route. However, taking the difficult path will allow us to see our goals come to full fruition, and thereby create an increased sense of confidence and accomplishment needed to tackle even greater things.
A Wrong Belief that Life Should be Easy
When we are faced with tough situations, feel like life isn’t fair or don’t always get the results we want in a certain time frame, we have two choices. Discouragement can yield defeat or triumph. It causes us to either surrender or dig in and get down in the trenches. Real self-satisfaction and achievement come from hard work.
A Wrong Belief that Success is a Destination
Success isn’t a destination. Rather, it’s a path we choose to walk down each day. Every day that we wake up we get to choose the path we are going to take. We get the chance to learn, grow and move forward, no matter our age, education or financial resources. Each of us can move beyond our failures through open doors, because when you develop the skill of perseverance, it becomes a character trait that affects every area of your life – not just weight loss.
A Lack of Resiliency
You simply cannot let discouraging moments break you. Instead, determine to become resilient. By persevering through tough times and meeting your struggles head on, you will have the ability to go beyond your goals. Pushing through that tough time will actually be an important part of developing your character trait of perseverance. You will be so happy with yourself on the other side of that meal, too, verses being depressed, feeling guilty, frustrated or defeated.
A Lack of Vision
Having a vision provides a sense of purpose and direction for our lives. Your vision will help you define your short and long-term goals and guide the decisions you make along the way. Having a vision will give you the conviction that your dream can actually be achieved. In moments of discouragement, it will inspire you with encouragement and a pathway to accomplish your goal.
One of Thomas Edison’s most famous quotes was, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
You Can’t Defeat Enemies You Don’t Identify.
So, take the time to think through which of these 5 enemies is causing you discouragement. Identify your strongholds. Then work on eliminating each enemy so that they will not defeat you. You will be able to rise above your situation and accomplish your goal. You will have learned to triumph over your discouragements and have the confidence to confront other issues you need to overcome.