Aristotle said that we become what we repeatedly do. Every time you face your fears, you become more courageous. Every time you refuse to quit, you become more perseverant. The more you persist in the face of adversity, the more you like and respect yourself.
One day, while still in grade school, I simply decided to quit quitting. And that’s a decision you can make this instant. Will you? It’s a decision that will change your life. If a hard-headed fifth grader can make that decision you surely can. Will you?
A few years went by. One day, as a sophomore in high school, this kid came up to me and said, “Ruben, your nickname should be Bulldog.”
I said, “Why?”
“Because bulldogs never quit. If a bulldog gets a hold of your leg, he’s not letting go,” the kid said.
“Is that right?” I said. I didn’t know that about bulldogs.
“Sure it’s right.”
I went to the library to check on this newly discovered fact about bulldogs. Being a pretty skeptical person, I always check the truth about matters. He was right. Bulldogs are known for tenacity. Bulldogs were actually bred to be tenacious; they were bred to fight bulls to the death in arenas like the ancient Coliseum. Their lower jaw is longer than their upper jaw so that when they bit a bull, they did not have to ever let go to breathe. The idea of being tenacious like a bulldog was very appealing to me!
From that day on, whenever I met somebody, I’d say, “Hi, my name is Ruben, but you can call me Bulldog!”
By doing that I was putting positive pressure on myself to not ever quit. Imagine how embarrassing it would be to be known as ‘Bulldog’ and be a quitter! A little pressure goes a long way to helping you stay on track.
Make a decision to be bulldog-tenacious and you’ll leave your competition in the dust.
Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com