“You can map out a fight plan or a life plan, but when the action starts, it may not go the way you planned, and you’re down to your reflexes – that means your [preparation:]. That’s where your roadwork shows. If you cheated on that in the dark of the morning, well, you’re going to get found out now, under the bright lights.” ― Joe Frazier, undisputed heavyweight champion

Former New York Mayor during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack, Rudy Giuliani, once said, “Change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy.” If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Prior Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performances. The value of planning in executing any idea can not be overemphasized. As the French proverb says: “GOD loves the sailor, but he has to sail himself.” Hope is also essential; “Man can live 40 days without food, three days without water, eight minutes without air, but only one second without hope.” American military leader General Douglas MacArthur quipped, “You are as young as your hope, as old as your despair.“

Youth is not entirely a time of life; it is a state of mind. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals.… You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair. – General Douglas MacArthur

Life is a rollercoaster of ups and downs, sometimes you are up, and sometimes you are down. The seasons of life keep changing; whatever situation or season we find ourselves in, we need to adapt to the situation and course-correct. As the Scandinavians would say: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes“. Magical Thinking makes us over-belief in hope and think the external world can change without taking action.

Without food man can survive for barely thirty days; without water for little more than three days; without air hardly for more than three minutes: but without hope, he might destroy himself in an even shorter time.

The average adult wants to travel the world, speak multiple languages, have a fit body, live an exciting life and be considered happy. Dreaming and hoping is good, but none of our goals and aspiration will come to fruition until we do the hard work necessary to achieve success. If you don’t put in the work in the gym through reps, laps and consistency, the biceps cannot show up. If you don’t do the hard work of learning daily, you will not speak a foreign language etc. Success is never an accident, so also failure is not an accident. As author, Jim Rohn often said, “Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day, while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. The accumulative weight of our disciplines and judgments leads us to either fortune or failure.”

“You can map out a fight plan or a life plan, but when the action starts, it may not go the way you planned, and you’re down to your reflexes – that means your [preparation:]. That’s where your roadwork shows. If you cheated on that in the dark of the morning, well, you’re going to get found out now, under the bright lights.” ― Joe Frazier, undisputed heavyweight champion.

General George Patton observed, “A Good Plan, Violently Executed Now, Is Better Than a Perfect Plan Next Week.” The more you bleed during training (peace), the less blood you shed during the war (on the field). Man’s life on earth is warfare (Job 7:1); we play the way we train. Planning and training for battle require consistency on the training ground i.e. the gym. Hoping that things would change without putting in the hard work required to achieve success is a recipe for failure. Nothing changes until you change, and nothing moves until you move. If you want to see changes in your life, you must progressively work towards achieving your goal. If you do what you have always done, you get the same results, but if you want to get a different result, you have got to start doing things differently.

“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day, while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. The accumulative weight of our disciplines and judgments leads us to either fortune or failure.” – Jim Rohn

Podcast

Spikeball: Chris Ruder | How I Built This with Guy Raz

Meditation

Daily Calm with Tamara Levitt – Persistence
One of the strategies for building a fruitful meditation practice is to anticipate and prepare for the challenges, such as a continuous stream of thought, and anticipating a hectic week ahead, which can create a schedule for our practice. A practice gains momentum with patience, gentleness and persistence; we must return repeatedly.

Daily Jay with Jay Shetty – Opinions
You are in the court; they are in the stand. – Mel Robbin. Just because someone is from your family or friend group does not necessarily mean you must accept their feedback. You are in the game and must focus on performing at your best instead of responding to random chatter.