Anything worth doing is going to take some hard work. If it's easy, it's probably not worth doing. I was lucky enough to have parents that provided me with tools to succeed in my youth, but not much has come easy for me.
I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, nor am I the most athletic, but I know what hard work is. Growing up, school and athletics came easy for many of my peers, but was a bit tougher for my fat ass. I quickly learned that hard work and dedication can overcome a lack of talent in just about any aspect of life. This is a valuable lesson and something I think gets overlooked these days. There's a sense of entitlement in today's world. Society has forgotten that hard work and perserverance is the key accomplishing your goals.
Here's a photo of me from a long time ago. You can see I wasn't built to race 24 hour and 100 mi bike races, wasn't fast enough to be a star hockey or soccer player. But what this chubby frame taught me was to work hard! I was called fat, and told no one with red hair ever amounts to anything. While those words stung when I was young, they built character in me and made me strong. Those words motivated me and set the stage for me to prove people wrong when told I can't do something, they made me a fighter, a challenger, and not one willing to sit back and just go with the flow. I swim upstream.
Don't give up if you are challenged, try harder, work harder. Fight for your dreams no matter how far off you think you are from them. You'll be surprised what some hard work and dedication can get you.
As Ken Clouber, founder of the Leadville 100 says, "you are tougher than you think you are."
