Each time you fall down, you are at your destiny’s crossroads; you can either throw in the towel and give up on your dreams, or you can stand up and keep moving forward.
In other words, you have the choice to step towards your goals and dreams or step away from them.
If you are here today, reading this post, chances are you have been knocked down by life.
You may be going through tough times and you may be struggling to find the strength and the will to stand up and keep moving forward.
You may be thinking: “I’d better give up”.
I want you to know that you are not alone.
Each person I know has felt like that at least once, me too, and it still happens from time to time.
Therefore, it’s completely normal to experience such feelings when things get hard.
But, each time we are at our destiny’s crossroads, we must remind ourselves that by giving up we are definitely signing our own defeat.
There’s no failure except when you surrender.
In other words, giving up is the ultimate failure.
Whether you want to excel in your relationships, in your career, in your business, in your general well-being, or whatsoever, the answer you’ll give to the below question reveals if you will or won’t breakthrough.
What’s your WHY, i.e. the reason for which you have to make it happen?
If you don’t have it, make sure you find it.
It’s naive to embark on a journey to make your dreams come true without a strong why.
It’s like embarking on the open sea on a boat without oars and sails.
What’s going to happen?
You are going to be at the mercy of the waves and you’ll probably never return.
On the contrary, if you have roars and sails, you can withstand even the worst storms.
Remember: A man without a WHY is like a boat without oars and sails.
Your why is the driving force that enables you to find the strength and the motivation to stand up and keep moving forward, even when the last hope seems lost.
As the oars and sails allow you to maneuver the boat, so does your why with your destiny.
No matter how many failures you may experience, how many times you may fall, cling on to your why and those setbacks will be life lessons, stepping stones to get where you want.
In short, your WHY is crucial to long-term success.
Remember: Failures are part of the process, you build your success by growing through them.
Sometimes you need to take one step back to go two steps forward.
Don’t just go through life, grow through it!
The more you get knocked down and the more you get up, the stronger you become.
Your resilience, as well as your self-confidence, grow and what at the beginning was perceived as an obstacle, now, reveals its true identity, i.e. the opportunity to get better.
We should accept and embrace failure, mistakes, and fall downs, instead of trying to avoid them.
What happens when you accept them as part of the process, as the key ingredient for your success?
You are going to stand up, to shrug it off and you are going to push even more.
The next time another failure occurs, it’s not going to stop you, on the contrary, it’s going to fuel you, it’s going to drive you to your destination.
Let me share an inspirational story that shows you how you’ll succeed in life.
No matter how many knockdowns you may experience, you’ll become successful one day, provided you stand up and keep moving!
THE MOTHER GIRAFFE’S KICK
The mother giraffe gives birth by standing up, so the baby giraffe falls 10 feet from its mother’s womb, which is very traumatic.
The baby giraffe learns a life lesson and skill which will serve it for years to come.
In the face of weakness and dizziness, the baby tries to stand up, but something no one would expect happens.
The mother giraffe kicks her baby, sending it flying up in the air and tumbling down on the ground.
As the baby lies curled up, the mother kicks the baby again, and again till the baby giraffe gives its best pushing its wobbling legs.
For the first time, it stands on its feet, running and avoiding the umpteenth kick.
The mother giraffe may seem really cruel; actually, she is not. She purposely behaves this way!
Why does she treat her baby that way?
She wants to introduce her offspring to the hardship of life.
She is teaching the baby giraffe that if it wants to live it had better stand up and run, even when its legs are shaking and it feels exhausted.
The mother is preparing her child to survive predators.
She knows that lions, tigers, hyenas, and leopards love fresh flesh.
So, unless the baby giraffe quickly learns to stand and run – it will have no chance to survive.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
We are not as lucky as the baby giraffe, are we?
In effect, we are not taught to stand up every time we fall.
On the contrary, since childhood, we are led to think that mistakes and failure are something bad, something we must avoid.
Do you remember when you made a mistake at school or within your house walls?
If you are anything like me, each time you made a mistake, each time you failed in something you were scolded.
So, it’s not surprising that we grow up with the fear of making mistakes and failing.
The path towards the accomplishment of goals is not an easy one.
It entails falling over and over again.
That’s the main reason why only a few succeed.
No one willingly kicks us out of our comfort zone.
No one introduces us to the reality of life as mother giraffes do.
No one teaches us that to survive and succeed we need to get back on our feet and keep moving forward every time we get a setback no matter what.
If you are pursuing a goal, whatever it may be, you are going to be faced with challenges, failure, and you are going to fall down and get hurt.
During those times, when even the last hope fails, think of the mother giraffe, her baby, and the life lesson.
Whenever challenges come your way, no matter how many times you may fall down, learn from the baby giraffe.
When you are down on your knees, you feel weak and think you have reached the end, cling to your WHY.
Use your WHY as a kick in the ass, as your mother giraffe’s kick.
It’s your reminder of the reason why you have started your journey.
It's the reason why you have worked so hard each damn day, the reason why you have prioritized it over anything else, the reason why you wake up at dawn to fight for your dreams.
Pull yourself together, stand up and keep moving.
Standing up after each fall is a pivotal life skill and one trait of all successful people, and you want to develop this trait too.
Success will be the outcome of your perseverance!
As the song goes: “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you are never gonna keep me down”; make these lyrics yours.
Remember: YOU are the hero in this movie called life.
YOU write every chapter of the book, and you are the one who determines the outcome.
So, never give up on your goals, get back up after each fall.
Make a promise to yourself that you will stay on track no matter how many knockbacks you’ll get, and the last chapter of the book you're writing will be entitled SUCCESS!
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I absolutely love this post!!
It’s such a great reminder to keep pushing through, to keep getting up and persevering!
Love what you wrote so much about ‘writing every chapter of our book and how we determine the outcome….So powerful and really reaches me.
I have been on a long and hard journey but thankful as I have learned so much through the falls and mistakes…. the journey continues but I’m determined to make the last chapter of my book ‘Success!’
Thank you Christian for this powerful post.
I am glad to read this post has been a reminder to keep pushing through 😃💪🏻
I love you are determined to entitle the last chapter of your book “SUCCESS” and if you are committed to the journey and you never give up success will be guaranteed.
Keep moving forward Christine!
Make your dreams come true 😉🔥