The struggle

I've done a few things in my life just like most of us and the paths I've initially set out on haven't always led where I expected which is pretty typical for a human life; things change, problems happen, as do opportunities, and sometimes they bring course corrections into being which force us to think differently and start over. It's not all bad of course, some of the best results I've had have come from such things but often that's not apparent when in the moment.

Along the way I've met so many people with big ideas, grand visions and goals, and sometimes they even had a plan to get there - a goal without a plan is a dream and dreams don't come true without some effort.

One of those people was a young lad who I ran into and over time we became friends and then I ended up giving him a start in the company I owned at the time; he was terrible at it but he persisted, as did I with him, and over time he started to sharpen up. Eventually he reached a good level of skill and understanding and decided to move to one of the big cities on the Eastern Seaboard to pursue his grand visions and I supported him all the way.

That was about nine years ago and in the intervening time I kept an eye on him, assisted where I could and caught up in person with him when I flew to that city or he came back here to visit his family. I spoke with the lad today - I say lad but he's a fellow of thirty years of age now - and it was great to hear what he's doing, his projects, and how he's progressed.

He's progressed through sheer hard work, determination, intelligence, discipline and the ability to react swiftly and decisively to market forces and when things have not gone to plan.

He's continued the work he began in my company, end-to-end property development, and is now building small-to-medium-sized residential housing and apartment developments between 10-50 properties in each and he's doing quite nicely for himself. We were laughing about what he was like when he started working for me, the mistakes he made, how relentlessly I drove him (which I did due to his immense potential) and where he's managed to bring himself, the paths he's travelled, since then. I'm really quite proud of him and how he's progressed, and why.

Life can be a struggle; it's not always, but often to reach a goal we need to apply many elements and sometimes for a long time to get there. I don't see it as a bad thing, just something we have to, or choose, to do so we can progress towards the outcomes we desire. Some can do it easily or with effort, sustain the effort I mean, and some cannot do it at all...and everyone will achieve results commensurate to how well they apply themselves just like the lad I mention above has.

What have you had to struggle and work towards in your life? What was so compelling about that thing, why did you want to attain it, what kept you focused and on track doing the things required to move you towards it and how did you feel along the way and once you achieved the result? Feel free to comment if you'd like to.