'It is about the things that are important to me: the ideals, the goals and the dreams. I may not have achieved all these yet, but my ambition is to be able to say at the end of my career, 'I believe I have achieved all that I was capable of achieving'.
This is a nugget from Paula Radcliffe's autobiography - one of (if not the) best all time female long distance runner holding the marathon record at a blistering fast 2hr 15min and a precious 25sec.
This record has held since 2003!
#legend
When I found her book in a thrift shop for a bargain £3 I snapped it up!
Hard copy under my arm I went home to devour it. And secretly try to work out her formula for being so dam fast.
You see I have a secret to share that is rather embarrassing...but that is not why I am coming to you .
Nor is the content in the book either.
It was what was said to me that kept the book on my shelf and never read (both while I lived in London and then shipped around the world to New Zealand).
As soon as I told a friend of mine of my steal-of-a-deal-book she piped up saying that she'd found it to be a poor read.
Now this friend specialised in sports autobiographies - she was ADDICTED to them.
Deflated, yet trusting of her, I left the book on my shelf.
Fast forward 7 years and a trip across the world I pulled the book off my shelf again last weekend. Her words still ringing in my head....I tentatively opened the first page....
'Much of my adult life has been consumed by running, resting, racing and recovering. When I first began to write this book, I wondered what else could I write about?'
....well that's not sounding promising is it? Shesh, my mate WAS right, this book will be a waste of time.
But I kept reading, giving the book, and Paula, the benefit of the doubt.
And it got better and better.
So much of her life's struggles and campaigns are so similar to what we face in business and life.
I started to LOVE the book.
AND now I can't get enough of it....like I had to pry myself out of it to send this to you.
It got me thinking.
How many times have you decided to quit based on someone else's opinion?
......quit that business idea you had
......quit that dream to do a course you thought would be amazing
......quit booking that call with someone to go for your dreams
......quit sending out that email to your community on an idea you thought was rad
......quit showing up after you got a nasty comment
......quit getting up early and working on the next steps to your dream life
How many times has someones throw away comment de-railed you and sent you down a different path?
I feel you. And what I know to be true is that having the path laid out in front of me was the difference between my businesses being hobbies to a business that fully supported me and has grown to multiple 6 figures.
While I have continued to invest in my self development and in my business development it all started with me not listening to the doubters. It started with ME being ready to do what it took to build and grow a business that I loved.
I didn't listen to anyone else, I went for it (headphones on to block out the chatter) and knew in my heart it was the right thing to do to enable me to have a life I love.
So if you want to be like Paula and "say at the end of my career, 'I believe I have achieved all that I was capable of achieving'."
Then deflect everyone else's opinions then reply to me and tell me what you are capable of achieving.
You've got this.
Big love,
P.S. Other peoples opinions can create your reality - here are 27 ways to over come those thoughts that are holding you back - all free to download, digest and keep you on your path to your dreams. mwoah xx
Grab your copy here >>
P.P.S. That secret I am embarrassed to tell - I wanted to qualify for the Olympic Games in the marathon. I got my time down to 3hrs5mins yet I needed to take off another 30mins to be even close to qualifying. That didn't stop me dreaming and trying though.
Next news item I'll tell you what happened that squashed my dream....