I have grown up with a sporting background. As a young boy I wanted to be a pro surfer and so I spent all of my spare time in the water. This included spending a lot of weekends traveling to different surfing competitions.
I realized in my late teens that while I as pretty handy, the reality is that I would end up spending much of my life struggling my way around the world, potentially getting knocked out in the early rounds. I didn’t want to be 30 and broke, so I made the call early to abort and instead focused on business. It’s a pretty interesting story and I detail it at length in NOT Business As Usual, out next month.
I love sport to this day, but one thing I really admire about sports stars is how they give it everything to make it. Nothing is left to chance. They know that if they want to be a success, then they need to hold nothing back. They make major sacrifices to see their dream come to pass.
Many grow up traveling, many are home schooled. Many families move from where they are from to a better climate, to a better coach located elsewhere, and so by the time the star makes it to the top, the whole family has played a significant role in the sacrifices it has taken to get them there.
I was talking to my brother-in-law over Christmas and we were discussing tennis. He was saying how European parents, if they spot serious potential in their children, will put it all on the line for their kids to make it. They will home school them, move them to Florida where the top tennis camps are, and take every opportunity afforded to them to see their child make it on the tour.
It gets me thinking about how committed you are to see what you want to see happen actually happen. Do you spend time praying and dreaming, and then go back and switch the TV on, or are you seriously committed? Do you spend your spare time honing your skills, reading books to learn more, watching Youtube videos and reading blogs from others who have learned the skills you are wanting to acquire?
The reality is that we are the chief architects of our lives. We, not anyone else, have the ability to steer our lives in the direction we want them to go. Sure, circumstances and plain ‘life’ will always steer us off course at times, but it is you and I that are capable of re-aligning our position.
Seeing a dream come to pass is not easy. It requires more than just prayer. It takes sacrifice. It takes commitment. It takes some fight. It takes being knocked over, but then continuing to get back up.
Yes, we need to be prayerful, but there is a point where we need to actually have a go. Stop and check the price you are paying. Are you giving it your all, or are you waiting for God to do most of the work?
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13
Matt Danswan is the CEO of Initiate Media, publishers of My Christian Daily. He Also blogs at www.mattdanswan.com. His new book, Not Business As Usual, is due for release in March 2018 and can be pre-ordered now.
