You enter the dealer’s lot looking to take that car for a ride. You’re thinking of the two other times you walked to the lot, looked in the window and wanted that car. Maybe you’ve even been to a car show and sat inside the new year’s models. You’ve smelled that new-car smell and felt that feeling that it would be so great to own this car.
The time has come; you have gotten into that car and you are taking it for a test drive. You know this is the model you want, this is the color and it is going to be the perfect day. You are going home with this car.
It’s like that Christmas morning we discussed earlier this week, only at this point you have unwrapped that gift and you’re holding it in your hand. This car is yours. You promise yourself you are going to keep it clean. You make your own new car rules: “I will not eat in this car. I will not have drinks in this car. The kids will no longer be allowed to open their candy in the car.”
How long does that new car smell last anyway? Within a matter of a few weeks the car gets dirty; the first scratch happens when someone in the parking lot opens a car door that hits it. Or eventually, despite your best efforts, you spill coffee down the console and between the seats.
I know as soon as this happens you don’t run back to the dealer and say, “This car is no good, I want another one.” You do not throw away this car that was your dream and that you planned to get for a year, do you?
This week in our self-help cycle topic, that is what so many do; as soon as life hits we now want our money back. “This did not work; it’s not as easy as the guy said it would be.” And after all you only made the purchase because they said “no-risk, money back guarantee.”
This is our last day of this idea of the self-help cycle. So many of us have gotten to the wall in life where the plan is not easy and we give up. A few went on an online complaint board to share how they thought the author or program was a scam. Most just put it on the shelf and, until earlier this week (when we asked you to take a look at all the programs you’ve invested in and still have sitting around), it has done nothing but collected dust.
Are you ready for the solution to this cycle? After a week of getting an understanding of why so many things have not worked out, I have talked to many people to find out just how many took this same path. Most have hit that wall, often in more than one area of life, and they just gave up.
You have to make the choice to finish and move forward, no matter what the wall is. I chose to build a blog and it was not always easy to come up with a theme. I had to push through and make the choice even when I hit a wall. I had to make myself write blogs even when I was on vacation or traveling long distances on the motorcycle.
Maybe it starts with finishing a book you’ve started reading in an area you need to grow. If you find the books hard to finish, find some of the smaller books that you can use to get started.
I love the concept my coach gave on writing small books, ones people could read – in some cases in one day or on a plane ride. The greatest book I read was short but with a strong point and it was written in the 1920s. When I finished it, I had a feeling of success.
If you want help getting you past the tough point maybe it’s time to hire a coach to keep you on track. Sometimes a coach is all the difference between hitting a wall and quitting instead of pushing through to success.
I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time to live your dream life, to love what you are doing and those you share life with. Are you ready to do what it takes to become the RockStar in your world?
