Big Time - Sir Peter of Gabriel

 Big Time – ‘Not me, I'm smarter than that, I worked it out’ - Gabriel

How do you measure success? By how much you earn? By where you live? By how little you have to work? Or by the size and make of your car?

 

Why are we programmed to see objects as a sign of success? And hey, before you say it, I’m just as ‘signs of success programmed’ as the next person.

 

I mean, the car thing always got me. And It’s possibly a young man’s game and like most, I was suckered in during my sales career where a ‘Ford Mondeo Ghia X’ was perceived as the pinnacle of car company hierarchy. On finally getting my career-eager hands on the keys I found it cornered like a shopping trolley and was really an old man’s car!

 

And when I reached the next level - BMW status – I found that everyone else on the road, even though they don’t know you, instantly thinks you’re a ****. It’s kinda sad that we mark success by the outward signs of wealth rather than by what we’ve achieved.

 

You see it’s the things you can’t see that really matter. It’s not where you’ve been, it’s how you’ve done it that counts. It’s experience that makes you smart and being smart leads to success. Success that you simply can’t buy and that you earn, over time.

 

Now, we are not all world beating athletes, but we can outplay our own dreams and succeed in areas we once thought were unachievable. I know – been there and got the T-Shirt, many times over.

 

I found that success comes from hours and hours of training, focus and determination and if you feel you have yet to succeed in life, make plans, and start to make it happen. You probably won’t get anything tangible to show for your efforts but inwardly you’ll know what true success feels like, especially when looking back in decades to come.

 

And for the record, if someone has already paid the price both physically and mentally in doing what it is that you want to achieve – listen hard - take it on the chin that you’ll have to go back to being a complete beginner that has to ‘wax on and wax off’ many times before you can call yourself even marginally successful at anything and be humble as real success takes a lifetime – I know.

 

1,240 Marathons - 292 Ultras - 10 GWR - 18 MDS - 1 Vision