Welcome to #InspireAfricaProject! Anyone who wants to succeed must understand that there is no free lunch in life. There is a price for the prize. Nothing can take away the price of success. If you like drink ten litters of anointing oil, eat one cup of mustard seed three times every day, burn green, yellow and red candles, tie mantles on your neck and use your knee to climb mountain while praying, you must be ready to pay the price of success!
Behind every great achievement is a story of education, training, practice, discipline, and sacrifice. You have to be willing to pay the price. Maybe that price is pursuing one single activity while putting everything else in your life on hold. Maybe it’s investing all of your own personal wealth or savings and eat once or twice daily. Maybe it’s the willingness to walk away from the safety of your current situation.
The men’s gymnastic competition captured the attention of the world in the 1976 Summer Olympic Games. With the roar in the background, Japan’s Shun Fujimoto landed a perfect triple somersault twist dismount from the rings to clinch the gold medal in team gymnastics.
With his face contorted in pain and his teammates holding their breath, Fujimoto followed a near-flawless routine by achieving a stunning and perfect landing- on a broken right knee. It was an extraordinary display of courage and commitment.
Interviewed later about the win, Fujimoto revealed that even though he had injured his knee during the earlier floor exercise, it became apparent as the competition continued that the team gold medal would be decided by the rings apparatus- his strongest event. “The pain shot through me like a knife,” he said. “It brought tears to my eyes. But now I have a gold medal and the pain is gone.”
What was it that gave Fujimoto his extraordinary courage in the face of excruciating pain and the very risk of serious injury? It was a willingness to pay the price- and probably a long history of paying the price, every day, on the road to simply winning a spot to compete in the Olympics.
Greatness is not sold in any supermarket. If you want to be called a great person, you must kill laziness right now. You must kill that virus called ‘excusieties.’ You must shun anything that looks like a shortcut and enroll into the company of price payers! Don’t desire something for nothing. Stop looking for a magic wand that will turn you into a success overnight. Pay the required price today!
Jack Canfield shared the following story. “Before Bill Bradley became a U. S. Senator from New Jersey, he was an amazing basketball player. He was an all-American at Princeton University, won an Olympic gold medal in 1964, played in the NBA Championship with the New York Knicks, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
How did he do so well at his sport? Well, for one thing, when he was in high school, he practiced for four hours a day every day! In his 1996 memoir Time Present, Time Past, Bradley offers the following account of his self-imposed basketball-training regiment:
“I stayed behind to practice after my teammates had left. My practice routine was to end by making fifteen baskets in a row from each of the five spots on the floor.” If he missed a shot, he would start over from the beginning. He continued this practice all through his college and professional career.
He developed this strong commitment to practice when he attended summer basketball camps sponsored by the St. Louis Hawks’ “Easy” Ed Macaulay, where he learned the importance of practicing. “When you’re not practicing, someone somewhere is. And when the two of you meet, given roughly equal ability, he will win.”
Bill took that advice to heart. The hours of hard work paid off. Bill Bradley scored over 3,000 points in four years of high school basketball.” Anytime I read stories like this, what comes to my mind is, what happened to Bill Bradley’s contemporaries? He had friends he played with; what happens to their basketball career? The answer is simple; if they had paid the same price Bill paid, the world would have known whom they are. The price you pay is what will distinguish you from your contemporaries.
According to John Troup, writing in USA Today, “The average Olympian trains 4 hours a day at least 310 days a year for six years before succeeding. Getting better begins with working out every day. By 7:00 AM most athletes have done more than many people do all day.
Given equal talent, the better-trained athlete can generally outperform the one who did not give a serious effort, and is usually more confident at the starting block. The four years before an Olympic, Greg Louganis probably practiced each of his dives 3,000 times. Kim Zmeskal has probably done every flip in her gymnastics routine at least 20,000 times, and Janet Evans has completed more than 240,000 laps.
Training works, but it isn’t easy or simple. Swimmers train an average of 10 miles a day, at speed of 5 mph in the pool. That might not sound fast, but their heart rates average 160 the entire time. Try running up a flight of stairs, then check your heart rate. Then imagine having to do that for four hours! Marathon runners average 160 miles a week at 10 mph.”
Almost most of you reading this article will never become Olympic athletes, nor do you want to, you can become world class in whatever you do by putting in the discipline effort to excel at your trade, craft, or profession. To win at whatever game you choose to play, you need to be willing to pay the price.
Talking about Michael Jordan, Steve Alford said, “When I played with Michael Jordan on the Olympic team, there was a huge gap between his ability and the ability of the other great players on that team. But what impressed me was that he was always the first one on the floor and the last one to leave.”
No wonder Nike paid him millions of dollars to advertise their products. In fact, at a time, Nike became synonymous with Michael Jordan. I’m sure you remember Air Jordan campaign. Today, Michael Jordan’s net worth is about $1.39 billion! There is no shortcut to the top. If you’re not ready to pay the required price, you are not qualified for greatness!
Bruce Jenner, an Olympic medalist in the decathlon opined, “I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you’re a musician, a writer, an athlete, or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you’ll win, if you don’t, you won’t.”
Andre Previn, pianist, conductor, and composer said, “If I miss a day of practice, I know it. If I miss two days, my manager knows it. If I miss three days, my audience knows it.” Dear friend, stop looking for a magic wand that will turn you into an overnight success.
Anyone who tells you that you can become successful through prophecy or prayer alone is not telling you the whole truth. Prayer and prophecy are powerful, but you must be ready to pay the price that will engender success. If you’re finding it difficult to be completely focus on your assignment, kindly call 07032681154 right now. To be continued..hopefully!
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