My Darling Daughter,
A friend sent me this excerpt of something he had read in a bid to urge me to stick to our arrangement to complete an agreed assignment by a given date.
“It was the age of Antarctic exploration, and the South Pole represented one of the last uncharted areas in the world. In 1911, two explorers, Amundsen and Scott, embarked on a race against each other to become the first known human beings to set foot upon the southernmost point of Earth. Amundsen wished to plant the Norwegian flag there on behalf of his country, while Scott hoped to stake his claim for England.
The journey there and back from their base camps was about fourteen hundred miles. They would be travelling the same distance on foot through extremely cold and harsh weather conditions. And both men were equally equipped with experience, supplies, and a supporting team of fellow explorers.
Though Amundsen and Scott were both well prepared for the challenge they were facing, the two men had different approaches to the task ahead of them. Scott instructed his team to hike as far as possible on the good weather days and then rest on bad weather days to conserve energy. On the other hand, Amundsen directed his team to follow a strict regimen of consistent daily progress by hiking exactly twenty miles every day, regardless of weather conditions and not to deviate from this instruction.
So which country’s flag was planted first? The Norwegian flag! Why?
Amundsen’s team, the team who were consistent in making sure they applied themselves to a set routine on a daily basis arrived first.
In this wise, it is clear that our daily routine defines what we achieve, become or get out of life. Making the effort every day even in small, howbeit progressive, steps instead of giving in to excuses and procrastinating is the difference between success and failure.
PERSISTENCE requires that you are self-disciplined.
We fail because we are not persistent and consistent; we lack self-discipline. We put the hard things off until tomorrow for a variety of reasons until we’ve lost our drive. We become accustomed to the erroneous belief that things should be easier than they are, or that waiting another day or two won’t make much difference to the outcome. Then, we arrive at a point where we are neither physically, mentally nor emotionally capable of executing the harder tasks. And, we end up living a life full of regrets.
You need to exercise our mind and body regularly to gain the strength needed to be at optimal capacity and face challenges squarely. This will help you grow and develop over time and you’ll not be found wanting when life inevitably throws you major curve balls.
Why did Scott’s team lose the race? They tried to take the easier and hassle-free route.
Scott’s team lost the race by first losing it in their minds. The physical loss was as a result of the mental state and the resultant actions from such a mindset.
Don’t follow in their footsteps!”
My dear, I am sharing this with you. I trust you are smart enough to grasp the message.
Love you always,
Dad