Last year my wife and I unexpectedly found the secret of success while visiting Peru.
We spent the first few days of the trip in the capital city of Lima. We loved walking down streets lined with lush, green trees and bushes. Tropical flowers were everywhere.
Half way through the trip, a tour guide told us that the city of Lima only receives 1 inch of rain a year. 1 inch! Apparently Lima is known as the driest capital in the world.
We were stunned! How could this beautiful city with its enormous tropical trees and plants be the driest capital city in the world?
Our guide, Adriel, told us that for many years the people worked to divert water from nearby rivers into the city. They built an enormous network of canals that course throughout Lima, keeping the city green. It wasn’t easy and took a long time but the results are amazing.
I couldn’t help but think about how that applies to life. We look at the people who we consider successful and rarely recognize the years of hard work and struggle that led to their success. We see the beautiful, lush, green trees but have never thought about what it took to make that happen.
The Struggle
If you have a chance to sit down and speak with self-made millionaires, most of them will tell you how much they loved the struggle. They look back fondly on the years when they had nothing and had to put in hard work every day to achieve their goals. They speak with nostalgia about their small apartment and riding their bike everywhere and eating instant Ramen noodles.
Isn’t that amazing?
The Secret of Success
Successful people know that there is no success without effort, time, and some risk. They know that every struggle is leading to a new success so they don’t run from the hard times. They embrace them. That is the secret. It is all cause and effect. A well-focused struggle brings about a well-received success.
Realize it or not, every sustainable success you’ve had in your life has come on the heels of weeks, months, or years of going through the struggle. It is during the struggle that you learn what you need to learn in order to become successful. It is the training camp before your big moment.
Embrace It!
Maybe you are in the struggle right now. Maybe you are in the trenches figuring out how to get water to the places it needs to be so your trees will grow. If you are, embrace it. Joy in the journey! You may not feel like you are seeing the results you want right now but if you persist it will happen. Not immediately but definitely.
Find where the “waters” of success are flowing and put in the effort to bring them into your life. It won’t be easy but it will be worth it. And most importantly, take time to look up and embrace the struggle. The greater the struggle, the greater the reward.
Kris
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