Everyone faces two choices throughout life, they can either set goals and realizer their full potential or they can choose not to. The decision and the results are yours and yours alone, but remember, that decision will stick with you.

Eventually throughout life, everyone will eventually feel as if a goal is too far out of reach for them to attain. When this happens the question becomes will I work harder to realize my potential or will I give up? There are many great quotes from professional athletes over the years related exactly to this topic, but one of my favorite is from Wayne Gretzky one of, if not the greatest hockey player of all time. Gretzky said that “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. It is always going to be easier to walk away or not set the goals, but what do you attain from that? How will you grow? And how will you feel knowing that you never even tried to?

Of course giving up is going to be easy, there is no work involved in it. But, the mental damage of simply giving up can last forever and effect decisions you make later on. Just like procrastination, once you start giving up on goals it is very easy to continue to give up until you never achieve anything. That being said, if you can keep your mental fortitude high and strive towards the goal you will eventually break down walls and barrios that were once holding you back. And here is the thing, it is not always about the final outcome, but rather the lessons you learned along the way and the way you grew while working to achieve your goal that truly matter.

So next time you are faced with a daunting task and you can’t decide if you should take that first step or not, remember, “Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step” Lao Tzu.