JKLTip Think of challenges you face and ask do you want the goal bad enough to take on the brick walls?
Brick walls are there for a reason, to test us. They make sure we really want something bad enough when it comes to challenges.
Every person is different. Differences exist in terms of talent, luck, or opportunity that provide a leg up. No doubt some things are easier for some people.
Every path is different too. Differences exist in terms of difficulty, complexity and some situations make for a lower barrier to entry.
Obviously some goals are easier and some goals are more difficult. But, Everyone who does anything remarkable faces brick walls that have kept others out. They’ve decided to climb over, or go through these walls.
Brick Walls – A Quote
By far this is one of my favourite moments from any talk. A sentiment from Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture that has motivated me through ups and downs to some of my greatest “accomplishments”. It’s so important for people who find things more difficult, for challenges that seem daunting. You know, all that “big dream stuff”. Just remember the quote “brick walls are there for a reason”.
Like effort filters, brick walls tell us how bad we really want something. They are there to guard against those who don’t really want it bad enough. So it’s easiest to see them as decision points.
Each time you hit a brick wall, ask yourself, is this one to get over, to smash through? The fun thing is, you. or your team are the only ones who get to decide. So, you can decide whether to continue to push on, to pivot, or give up all together.
When you look back, the small, easy stuff won’t have had many such decisions. There are not too many brick walls when it comes to low impact goals. The big, difficult accomplishments that only a few people achieve will no doubt be absolutely full of them. So get excited for the next brick wall.
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** Read Why Just Keep Learning: JKL Post