The Contemporary Gospel Duo, Mary Mary, has a track on their new CD that is titled “Are You Ready?”. The song talks about two people who have dreams to move out of their current lives into something bigger and better. The question that is presented asks, “But are you ready? Are you ready? You talk about it every day and you’ve got a lot to say. But are you ready? Are you ready? Gonna take a lot of preparation to reach your destination.”
This song really spoke to me when I listened to it one day. At the time, I was talking about how I wanted to get my credit card bills paid off in the next 3 to 5 years. I had a lot to say about it. I could tell you how by paying off debt quicker helps save you money in the long run. I was quoting financial gurus on how I could go about doing it. I would tell my husband all the time what we needed to do to make it happen. I had been talking this talk for the past 3 years, but yet, nothing was happening; progress was not being made.
“You talk about it every day and you’ve got a lot to say, but are you ready?”
That line stopped me in my tracks. I had to do a self assessment. I did talk about it a lot. I was always telling folks that I want to pay my bills down, so I can’t be going out to eat and doing all of this unnecessary shopping. I had to realize that I talked a good talk, but I really wasn’t doing anything to get me there.
I could look at times where I was on track, doing what I was supposed to be doing, but then there would be moments where I would slip up and go on a spending spree. Trying to justify it by saying that I deserved a treat, besides it was only $50. What is that compared to $2500 that I already owe?
Your goal may not be paying off bills. It might be trying to get out of the hood. It might be going to college and obtaining your degree. It might be getting a better job. Whatever your goal may be, at some point, you have to stop talking about it and start being about it.
In this day, we have too many young people who expect to get a lot of something for little to nothing. They want the good life and everything that comes with it, but they don’t want to work for it. Vidal Sassoon said it best: “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary”.
“It’s gonna take a lot of preparation to reach your destination. So are you ready?”
For my situation, I had to think of things that I needed to do in order for me to get my bills paid off quicker. This included assessing my spending habits. Taking the credit cards out of my wallet and cutting them up. It meant eating at home more often and bringing my lunch to work. It meant using the funds from my extra job to help pay down debt and not use it as fun money. Changes – both major and minor – were involved.
That said, what are you doing to make your goal a reality? Are you networking and following leads? Or are you sitting on your couch watching another episode of reality TV?
Are you reading up on what other successful people have done to be successful in their field? Finding out the steps they took to get where they are today? Or are you reading all the latest gossip and fashion magazines?
Are you placing yourself in environments that are conducive to you reaching your goal? Or are you still hanging out in the same places with the same people doing the same things?
Don’t be fooled by the movies and TV shows you watch. Instant fame and success only happen to a handful. For the majority of truly successful individuals, when you look at their lives, you are only seeing a snippet of what some of these “famous people” have done to be famous. You don’t see the struggle or the obstacles they had to overcome for years before they were able to make it big.
You may not want to be as big as Oprah, or Bill Gates, or Sean Combs. You may want to be like your supervisor or manager. Or maybe it’s the successful small business owner in your neighborhood. Whatever your goal may be, you have to work for it. Success will not just fall in your lap. Sacrifice and hard work get you where you want to go.
So what’s next? Well Mary Mary says it best:
“Gotta get your mind right”.
Once you decide that you want to pursue your goal, you have to get your mind in the right place. You have to make up in your mind that you will be willing to do whatever it takes to get what you want. This may mean that you have to give up time spent watching TV so that you can study. It may mean that you go without buying new shoes and clothes every month so that you can save to get your business off the ground. It may mean working long days and nights; going without sleep at times.
This also means that you have to get your mind right to face your opposition. Yes, you will have things and people come against you and if you are not set in your mind that you will succeed, you will be swayed and distracted by others’ opinions or the first door that closes in your face. When you have your mind right, you anticipate problems with Plan A and have a Plan B and sometimes Plan C already worked out.
The question has been asked. What are you willing to sacrifice to get what you want?
Are YOU ready?
No comments:
Post a Comment