Going the distance – or it’s always too soon to quit!
No matter how long it takes or how far one has to travel, if one doesn’t go the distance… the whole way… if one quits too soon, it just doesn’t matter. To win in life, one must go the distance, falling short is never acceptable.
My name is Bob Crow and I’m a behavioral therapist board certified in both clinical and medical hypnosis. As I’ve traveled North America, it’s the stories of the struggles of people overcoming obstacles that inspire me – not those that had the good life handed to them. One of the speeches that I give that’s been requested over and over again is one called Going The Distance. I’ve delivered it hundreds of times in over a quarter of a century of speaking to all kinds of organizations from civic to corporate to medical. Let me tell you about a man that inspired part of that speech. A man that despite getting off to a difficult start went the distance.
The future looked bright and promising to the college bound high school senior. But getting a girl a pregnant in the summer before he was to enter college altered his life path significantly. He went from student government to fueling trucks at a truck stop. He went from activities with his friends to stocking shelves at a grocery store. He went from mowing the grass at his parent’s home to emptying bed pans in a hospital, He and his pregnant wife lived with his parent’s while he worked one job full time and two part time jobs while going to college fulltime. His work load was so great that at the end of his first semester, he went from honor roll to academic probation.
Eventually he was able to move his family out his parent’s home and into government housing. A chance meeting with a famous individual opened some doors, but competition was tough, and he had to prove himself and his abilities. He had to acquire skills and do things that he had never done before. It was a lot of hard work, but he chose opportunity rather than security. Everything that he tried didn’t work. But he kept at it and made things happen. Many individuals though, have opportunities open to them that they never seize.
His goal in life was to make enough money so that money would never again be a consideration! It was never a matter of buying toys and keeping up with the Jones, but to be able to provide a comfortable, rewarding and an exciting life for himself and his loved ones. As his income grew, he and his family were able to move out of the apartment and into their first home. With a greatly enlarged income he was able to get rid of the junk car and buy a new Ford. He criss-crossed the country by air and by car in those early years, and he would routinely drive a 100,000 miles a year. As his income increased, they were able to drive the cars of their choice, were able to live in larger and more comfortable homes, and were able to provide educations for their children and to travel to some exotic locations. He didn’t view his achievements as extraordinary, he just did what he needed to do. To keep on keeping on! To go the distance.
It wasn’t easy. There was a debilitating sporting accident. There were businesses setbacks with a resulting bankruptcy. One can’t acquire the knowledge and learn the needed lessons, if things always work out as desired on the first attempt. And then at the age of fifty one, he began to further educate himself and earned advanced degrees in a new field.
Today he’s considered to be an expert in that field. He’s a sought after public speaker in demand to address corporations, civic groups and sports organization throughout country. So you might ask, was the price too high? The price of success in the long run is less than the price of failure. It’s always been and will continue to be that way It’s always too early to quit.
Are you on the verge of quitting? Of throwing in the towel? Why not call Bob Crow at 404.277.1827 for a no cost consultation and examine ways to kick start your career? To move into the next chapter of your life? To reinvent yourself? The story above is just one of thousands that happen every day in this great country.
What if… at any step of the way he would have quit? What if you quit?
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