“The Hammer That Drives The Nail"

“It takes the hammer of persistence to drive the nail of success" — John Mason

The foundation of The Bearded Blogger, The Role Up Podcast and the Gas Packs Only Club, is rooted in the belief that any dream can come to life, you just have to put the work in to get there. These platforms are a place you can come when you get tired, to refill your Gatorade bottles before you set back out to accomplish your mission. These movements were designed to keep you on the gas pedal when you thought it was time to slow down. To get where we are going, obviously breaks are necessary, but we can honestly break when we get done.

If we are going to be truthful about it, the reason why we aren’t where we want to be is because we have taken too many breaks already. We let life get us down and brain wash us into giving up on ourselves. This is the turning moment when all of that changes. Our brain was created to protect us from anything that could hurt us. Including chasing our dreams. It is important that we always keep moving and improving so we can grow into our blessings. To push through pain is obviously easier said than done but if you look at the people who are where you want to be, at some point in their life, they had to keep pushing through hard times.

A lot of us are convinced that bad shit happens to people who are unorganized or make sporadic decisions. But the truth is nobody is exempt from having bad shit happen to them. Nobody is exempt from fatigue or unexpected life events. Nobody is exempt from being persuaded into giving up on themselves. Look at Adam and Eve. They were the only 2 people on the planet and they got finessed by a snake. Doesn’t make sense to me either but the lesson is the same, you have to have control of your mind.

When we have control of our mind, one of the abilities we will have is the obsession with our goals. With this obsession, we will stop at nothing until we succeed in our mission. Think about it like dating. You have your eyes on somebody and you stop at nothing until you have them. You invest in them, you make sure that they know you are interested in them and you strategically move to play your hand right. We should have that same mentality as we pursue our calling.

To persevere means to push beyond our limitations and mental barriers to continue to do the dirty work. It’s putting our head down and not worrying about the distance we have until we reach our goals. It’s focusing on the current step, looking forward to the next step. To persevere means to be consistent. It means no matter how we feel, it’s time to get the job done. By pushing through and being mentally tough, we are forging our own strength and pushing it to the limit.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, the one sure way to get to where we want to be is by being mentally tough. Life is going to be hard, challenging, going to seem like you can’t get over the hump. All of that extra noise is our brain trying to create scenarios that haven’t happened to give us more reason to stop. The fog that’s in your way, blocking the path, is an illusion to make us think that nothing is on the other side. But another truth for you, everything we want is on the other side of the fog.

To push through challenging times is necessary. For your body to be tired and be mentally drained, you’re obviously going to need some down time. But we can rest when we are 6 feet under. We have mastered the art of procrastination. Now it’s time to turn up a notch and master the art of execution. To execute our plans is a commitment we show to ourselves. It is a commitment that if we stick to it, great things are on the other side.

I’m not going to let you give up on yourself this year. I’m not going to give up on myself either. No matter what we go through, we have to keep moving. Through heartbreak, disappointment, moments of broken trust, times we want to stop, times are brain thinks we can’t go any longer, we must persevere. Like the quote said in a previous post, “tough times don’t last, tough people do".

• SB