Pain
My favorite scene in Rocky III is when the ringside interviewer asks Mr. T what his prediction is for his fight against Rocky Balboa. Mr. T answers "My prediction? Pain."
So let's talk about pain. No one likes pain. We want to avoid it. We remember times of intense pain. This is part of man's survival instinct.
But pain has a use. It is a great motivator. So too is failure. We remember major failures, big losses, as much as painful events.
Problem is, when everything is going right, when things are going well, we tend to get soft. We become complacent, thinking everything will go our way. Once in a while we need a swift kick in the ass to awaken that human survival instinct. Pain, failure, is every bit important to survive. Think about it.
One of my favorite quotes from Napoleon Hill goes: "Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." We need to remind ourselves of this especially when things are going well. And we need to embrace failure and pain, to harness its power.
Back to the movie, Rocky had it too easy, he was living the good life, all his needs were taken care of. He got soft and lost that mental edge, eventually losing to Clubber Lang. He had to regain the eye of the tiger and get back that missing mental edge.
Now what are you waiting for?