It’s a cool Friday afternoon; I was fifteen minutes into my boot camp workout. I began to feel pain in areas I didn’t know existed. My goodness, I said to myself, what in the world was I thinking when I committed to a 45-minute boot camp workout? Man! I must have lost my mind. . . Okay, I thought, nobody else knows this arrangement I made to myself. I’m so exhausted…I can stop right now. Yes, I have set goals and intentions for myself. Yes, I was finally motivated enough to get up and do something about it. And, yes I made a ‘decision’ to be stronger, leaner and healthier, but right now, this moment, all I know is I WANT TO STOP.

Suddenly, with the feeling of fire being lit in my legs and calves, I remembered the saying, “Quitters never win.” I work hard in my business and other areas of my life where I want to see results. By no means am I a quitter. But, I have to be honest: my thoughts sure did surround the idea of stopping this workout. I thought to myself. I began to press harder, move faster, breathe deeper as I said, “Natasha why are you doing this workout?” I remembered my affirmation and vision for myself—to be in the best and most optimal shape possible. My body is my temple; I must treat it with dignity and pride. I must take care of it, just as I would anything else that I highly value. I can’t quit now. If I quit now, I will not win. If I quit now, I’m letting myself off the hook at achieving something great and worthwhile. Next thing I know, 15 more minutes had passed. I only had 15 minutes left to go. I took a deep breath and imagined that I was getting stronger and healthier. I turned up my Mary J Blige CD and treated my last few moments of working out as if I’d just gotten started. I said to myself, I can’t quit, ’cause quitters never win. I felt myself getting stronger and stronger, and as the music began to fade, I looked down at the timer and was at the 45-minute mark. I’d done it!! I had reached my intentions for that day, worked out hard and I had not quit. A euphoric feeling emerged from me and sat deep within my soul. I had not quit, even though it was hard; better yet, I kept my word with myself.

My weekly challenge to you
This week, ask yourself, what is it that you said you would be committed to, yet you may have found yourself losing momentum? Don’t quit now. You have so much to gain by staying on course. Don’t let pain, struggle, doubt or anything get in the way of you winning. As my mother always said to me, “Whatever you want in life, you will have to work for it.” Somehow, as a larger society, we have become so afraid of a little hard work. The minute something becomes hard, takes more effort than we imagined, we want to stop.

I know we are all better than that. This week, I ask you to take back your rightful place and claim your championship metal of accomplishment. Don’t quit now, you’ve already come so far. Be a champion with yourself and press through whatever your adversities may be. When it’s all said and done, you will be standing tall as a winner!

Reclaim your winnings. Have a great week!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This motivational thought is adapted from Life and Business Coach Natasha Haughton's new book, God, use me for real: A path toward a happy and fulfilling life. A highly respected speaker and coach, Natasha is co-founder of Vision Manifest.com. You can email her at natasha@visionmanifest.com, or visit www.visionmanifest.com.