You must know in the beginning the benefits you are expecting to receive in the 5 areas of success. Constantly remind yourself and ask yourself, why am I doing this? How will my life be better because of learning and applying these lessons of the 5 areas of success? In the words of the late Dr. Steven Covey “Begin with the end in mind.” In the beginning you will not feel like changing your habits. For example, if you are trying to get closer to God (spiritual) and to know His will in your life, you will be tempted not to get up an extra hour early to do your praying and Bible study. Your mind will tell you to stay in bed. You can do this later. Come to find out later never happens. Over time you say, “oh what is the use, I am never committed to finishing anything I start”. Discouragement sets in and you quit.
Let’s say you exercise (physical) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It's Wednesday morning and it's cold or rainy outside and you decide to lay in bed and sleep. I admit, there is short term pleasure in laying in that bed an extra hour or so, especially when it is cold and raining. Speaking of it being cold outside, I remember a past Friday morning on January 21, 2022. As normal, I got up at 5:00am to begin my day with Bible devotion, reading in various Bible-based books and studying my Sunday School lesson. After I finished my spiritual time, I was now ready to go on my routine Friday morning three-mile speed walk session. As I took off that morning in 30-degree temperature, fully dressed in a toboggan plus a sweatshirt hoodie, I soon realized the bitter cold from the wind chill caused me to think, what am I doing out here this cold and windy morning? In fact, I was the only walker out that morning. Everyone else must have stayed in bed.
Later that afternoon my coworkers gave me a birthday party at the office. My boss’s 6-year-old son Winston, who loves me and calls me "Mr. Randy", said, “You are thirty-three years old, and you look like the youngest one in the office.” He was serious and I didn’t doubt his observation for a moment. After that he said, “I want you to pick me up and curl me like a barbell.” Thank God I lift weights two times a week and speed walk three other days. I don’t know how many times that I curled him, but I could feel the fatigue setting in. He said that he weighed fifty-three pounds. After I put him down, I told him, “Mr. Randy is going to have to increase the amount of weight he is lifting in order to get stronger as you grow up.” Winston smiled and said, “Curl me again.”
The point here is that I wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination thirty-three years old. I was celebrating my sixty-third birthday. This young boy noticed that I am full of energy and looked young for my age at least to him.
As I pondered what he said that moment and how his words made me feel, it caused me to realize it was worth all the effort of getting out of bed and fighting the bitter elements of nature to keep my body in shape for moments like this. Stay encouraged and "keep the end in mind."