You’ve got this…and I don’t even know what it is. It doesn’t matter really. If it’s important to you and you have the grit to go get it…then you got this.
I heard a quote one time that said the greatest future predictor of success is grit. Don’t believe it? Just google that statement. While it won’t tell me the author, it leads to numerous articles on the subject. I strongly believe though that you need a combination of grit and inspiration.
Powerful Stories
I vividly remember the first time I ever heard an inspirational speech at an FFA conference. I’d never heard anyone speak like that before and I was mesmerized. Honesty, I don’t remember the topic, I just remember the feeling that I couldn’t get enough. If you talk to me for more than 5 minutes, I’ll probably start a sentence with “I was listening to a podcast…” Stories and inspiration are so powerful in maintaining a winning mindset. What do you listen to or read to keep you inspired? What do you tell yourself to stay on track?
You Can Do Anything
Funny thing, at the time of that FFA conference I thought I hadn’t heard anyone talk like that before. Yet, the truth is that my mom had instilled in my brother and me that we could do anything or be anyone we wanted to be. And we were just dumb enough to believe her.
I’ve always instilled that same belief in my kids. There isn’t anything you can’t accomplish if you are willing to dream it and work for it. So…this week I when I received a pretty big blow…I had my words turned back on me.
Make It Work
Here’s the thing. I’ve always figured I can make pretty much anything work. True story, I went to the wrong airport for an international flight many years ago. Let’s not get hung up on the details of how I possibly went to the Oakland airport when I was supposed to be in San Francisco. Let’s focus on the fact that I still made the flight.
Those of you who know me already know it’s not like I arrived extra early either. If you believe that you can figure it out, you can…almost always. There is an author who recently launched a book called Everything is Figuroutable. It occurred to me while listening to her that I’ve always lived that way.
Suck It Up Buttercup
However, this week I had a “suck it up buttercup” kinda day. I thought I was moving forward at a great pace on a project that is incredibly important to me…until I reworked something and realized I’d figured it wrong. Really wrong. Have you ever thought that something was cooking along just right and the rug gets yanked out from under you?
In this instance, it was 100% my mistake, which really didn’t bother me. Frankly, I make mistakes all of the time. What bothered me was that I really questioned if I was going to be able to pull off the project at all. That was compounded by the fact that I REALLY wanted to have a pity party over it. Because that’s always so productive!
What Example Do You Set?
Will pitched my words right back at me and said, “You are Christina Ward. You can go to the wrong airport and still make the flight. You will figure this out.”
At that point, I thought what kind of example am I setting? I always tell him, “you’ve got this.” So I’m here to tell you the same thing.
You’ve Got This
You’ve got this. Struggling in showmanship? You’ve got this. Frustrated by trying to find your next champion? You’ve got this. Can’t get that hind leg clipped like your buddy or your ‘fitting hero”? You’ve got this!
Sometimes a pity party seems like a good idea, it pulls at you and you just kinda want to go along. Don’t do it! Self-pity stands in the way of your progress and you simply don’t have time for that.
Be Prepared for Big Things
You have big things that you need to accomplish and when that class doesn’t go how you planned or that conversation didn’t go right or whatever goes wrong, you can’t get distracted by the negativity.
Showing livestock prepares you to be able to take a hit and keep going. Really, what is your alternative? Quit? No way! There are more resources available to you than ever before to learn what you need to know.
Guess what? The best resources are those that work for you. If you can’t evaluate at the level you’d like to, go to a judging camp. How about fitting? If you can’t fit as well as you’d like, go to one of the hundreds of clinics that are given around the country each year. Have you always wanted to feed livestock a certain way? Talk to someone who knows what they are doing. I’m not saying they are going to give you all of their secrets, but I promise you’ll learn something if you’ll just listen.
Much like getting an F in a class in school, you have to truly make an effort to NOT improve with experience. Given that basic rule, every time you do something, you’ll get better. It’s like the law of gravity or should be…just accept it as fact.
You Got This
Sometimes we all need a dose of inspiration. We need to be reminded to dig down and find our grit. Who is the person that helps you with that? What is the resource that you turn to when you need to get your grit? If you don’t need anyone to help you with that, I applaud you. If you do need help, be sure to find that person or thing that does that for you. Like me, you may be surprised to have it come from the very person you’ve preached it to for years. Either way, just know that when YOU believe in YOU… You Got This!
Need more inspiration? Check out Keep Your Head Up, It’s Just One Show
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