Lifestyle

Neither Rome Nor Your Legacy Can Be Built In A Day

by Paul Hudson
Stocksy

Patience and persistence are the two most important P's in a person’s life — right after penis and pussy.Without them, it is impossible to live the life that we wish to live.

If you are anything like me, you have very high aspirations and have set goals for yourself that most people don’t have the balls to even dream of. You have taken the first and most important step towards success: deciding the road that needs to be taken.

For those of us that aren’t naïve, we know that the road to the top will be a steep uphill journey, laden with obstacles and seemingly un-crossable trenches. Most of us, however, though understanding what lies ahead — and though accepting the challenges that we know we will have to face — end up throwing in the towel way before we reach the peak.

Obstacles and hardships we know to be a necessary part of becoming successful; the scars that will be left behind will strengthen our character and make us better people for it; all the stories that we read, all the movies that we watch — all lead us to understand that making our dreams a reality won’t be easy and will require a struggle.

Yet, when we are actually faced with the difficulties that we knew that we were bound to face, we shy away; we find that hardship is unpleasant and — well — that it sucks. What most don’t understand is that difficulties have a damaging effect on our outlook on things.

While we may feel that we will have the strength to take on an army when we see one marching towards us, we don’t take into consideration how much weaker we feel after months of rigorous labor. The more resistance we are met with, the harder we tend to push.

The harder we push, the more the resistance. The more resistance we feel, the slower our progress and the more frustrated we get. Frustration leads to stress, stress leads to more stress — and eventually we either give up or have a mental breakdown.

Like in football, a Hail Mary is only to be used as a last resort — an act of desperation. If you experienced recent failure, the next step is not to rally all of your remaining forces and run head on for a suicide mission.

The way to win is to do so by steady progression — constant forward movement towards your final destination. The race to success isn’t a 100m dash, but rather a full marathon...and then some. Failure is not a result of insufficient strength — we are all capable of much more than we give ourselves credit.

Failure is a result of us getting too anxious and impatient; instead of keeping the steady pace that we promised ourselves that we would, we get too eager for success and expect to achieve it instantly. If the attainment of success were that easy, then life would be boring.

In the end, what is most important is not the rewards we reap, but the things we experience and learn along the way. When your life flashes before your eyes in your last seconds in this world, you won’t even consider your final situation, but only all that you had to go through to get to your final resting place.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. You can’t build your legacy in a rush either — it’s not possible. Our capabilities are limitless, but we aren’t magicians. We can accomplish anything that we set our minds to if we remain patient and take the time to make steady — if slow — progress.

Persistence is key. I recently hit a little personal-growth speed bump. I have been pushing myself for months on end, thinking that the harder I push, the further I will go.

Well, if you push for long enough your arms become numb and while you think that you are still pushing with the same vigor that you had been pushing with, the truth is that you are remaining stagnant and wasting whatever strength you have left.

Work hard, but make sure to schedule in resting times. Work diligently because you know that is what is required to become great, but make sure to keep in mind that you will only make progress when you are at peace with yourself and with your life. Learn to love life itself and not just your work.

Working yourself to the bone will not only result in little to no progress — it will result in failure; you will end up giving up. Impatience is our number one enemy, putting the talents of multitudes to waste. Be patient, be persistent and be sure, among all other things, to enjoy the life that you are living. Becoming a legend takes a lifetime, not an Adderall-fueled afternoon.

Paul Hudson | Elite.

For more from Paul, follow him on Twitter: @MrPaulHudson