As you probably know already, I am obsessed with all things cycling (that’s why I started Bike198.com). Cyclists…specifically pro road bikers…are known for overcoming struggles to achieve goals. With the epic stories of Lance Armstrong to come back victories of Greg LeMond and others, we can draw inspiration and motivation in our own lives from watching athletes perform above expectations in races and events like the Tour de France.
The following quote from Greg LeMond summarizes a very key point in my life that I felt warranted further explanation.
I have always struggled to achieve excellence. One thing that cycling has taught me is that if you can achieve something without a struggle it’s not going to be satisfying.
-Greg LeMond-
What a killer quote. If you sit back and think about it for a second, it really starts to sink in and make sense. The story of the “free lunch gone bad” is one that goes down in history over and over again. Why do you think most lottery winners are worse off 5 years down the road than before they received their pile of cash?! When you are given something without the blood, sweat and tears that goes into the acquisition…you do hold hold the same perceived value with the feeling of accomplishment that goes with that achievement. Therefore…the easy come, easy go mentality sets in and you tend to not protect your asset as much as if you had worked your ass off for it.
Blogging And The Ultimate Grind
Truly successful blogs and businesses are not overnight successes. Yes…we hear the results of successful businesses online, but we very rarely hear the massive effort put forth on the back end and during the beginning stages to get there.
Whenever someone starts up a new blog and asks how to make it big…they look at the success of others and attempt to replicate it. However, 99% of those beginning bloggers are not willing to put in the effort when no one is reading. They are not willing to put in the late nights, the practice and patience of learning the craft or the dedication to treating this medium as a business. Instead…they want to see their little corner of the web explode income without putting in the work because the Internet…as a whole…is still perceived to be an “easy money” outlet when that could not be farther from the truth.
Blogging is not the easiest way to make money online.
Blogging is a grind. Day in and day out writing, promotion and innovation bring success over time. The reason you see such solid businesses built up around the online medium of blogs is because that asset is protected strongly by its creator due to the amount of effort it took to gain success. Do you think bloggers would protect their online real-estate as closely if it was just handed to them? Probably not.
The struggle in blogging is the reason for the payoff at the end of the rainbow. It is the reason we grind away at creating and promoting content. It feeds the love of connecting with other people around the world that share the same passion as you do. It is the story behind the success that in turn breeds more success.
If you are expecting to achieve your dreams through blogging without the grind and struggle…you are wasting your time. If you are ready to grow past your expectations and wildest dreams through hard work and improvement by learning through failures…you are at the right place.
It is a long road, but the journey defines the commitment and success over time.
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