I have to admit, I’ve always been a fan of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky movies – primarily because of their inspirational messages. This video highlights a message that I think is more pertinent today than ever before.

Rocky’s son blames his dad for not getting what he wants from life. We’ve all been there at some time in our life – looking for something to blame out of pure frustration because things are not going the way we want. I know I’ve been there on more than one occasion.

However, as natural as the inclination to blame other people and events is, it will never ever make any difference to our situation. Playing the blame game is like sitting in a rocking chair – it gives us something to do but it never gets us anywhere. In reality, it does not even make us feel good. The only solution is to take responsibility for the situation and move forwards, but why don’t we do that? Because that requires courage and true courage is rare commodity these days. As someone once told me, true courage is that little voice that says at night, “Tomorrow, I will try again… one more time!”

Stallone addresses this very smartly with his line, “If you know what you are worth, then go and get what you are worth – but you have to be able to take the hits.” This is just so true. He goes on to say, “There ain’t nobody who can hit as hard as life, but it don’t matter how hard you can hit. What matters is how hard you can get hit and keep moving forwards – how much you can take and keep moving forwards.”

Whenever, I’m going through tough times, I always remember these words: “Life is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forwards.” One of my mentors says it differently – he says, “When you’re going through hell, keep going. Because if you stop, you end up in hell”. In other words, when you’re going through tough times, you must have the courage to persevere and get through. Otherwise, you’re just going to end up stuck in a rut, frustrated and looking for things to blame.

“Tough times don’t last but tough people do” – often the key factor determining your success in life is your resilience, your tenacity and your ability to persist. We’ve all heard the saying, “success is falling down 7 times but getting up 8”. The ability to be able to last through tough times is what separates the men from the boys – it’s often the single quality that is the difference between success and failure. Harrison Ford, star of the Indiana Jones and Star Wars Series said, “I knew that to succeed in this industry, I just needed to hang in there longer than everyone else.” Ford was paid $65Million for the latest Indiana Jones movie.

So go out there and strive to get what you want from life – but it is not always going to be easy and it is not always going to be smooth sailing. As J. Sidlow Baxter said, “Every opportunity has a difficulty, & every difficulty has an opportunity.” So get yourself ready for the hits and go forwards anyway!

Unfortunately, there is a whole movement out there which seems to suggest that if you just sit around and visualise success, then success will come to you easily. Nothing could be further from the truth – as Rocky says, “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It will beat you to your knees and keep you there if you let it.”

Everyone has had their tough times and tough times will come again – the question is what will you do when they come? Will you let life beat you down or will you aim to stand up one more time? Will you allow yourself to lie on the canvas or will you get up for another round? There have been times for me, especially when I was over $109,000 in debt with no income and people suing me for money that I wanted to throw in the towel. I have to admit, I was on the canvas and I felt like lieing there.

However, no matter how tough life gets, always remember that you and you alone decide how many times you want to get back up again. You can choose to quit or you can choose to persist. I have 3 strategies that I use whenever I feel like quitting:

1. I tell myself, “I can always quit tomorrow so why not just go another round today?” It’s a silly little saying but it keeps me moving forwards and ultimately that’s all that matters
2. Another strategy I use when I’ve had a tough day is I’ll take the day off and get an early night. When I wake up in the morning, I remind myself that today is a brand new day. Whatever happened yesterday is in the past and today is a clean canvas and I get to create it anew.
3. When things are going really badly, like when I was almost on the verge of bankruptcy and I felt like the whole world was against me, I remembered saying to myself, “I might as well quit now because things are not going to be any different tomorrow.” And then I remembered thinking, “Ok, let’s say I quit and I go back to just being like everyone else… and in 50 years time when I look back at my life, would I be happy that I quit just because a few people were trying to make my life hell or would I have wanted to keep going until I got through the tough times?  That was a very easy question to answer and I persisted and I fought and I got through. Let me assure, life looks a whole lot better today. So whenever you feel like quitting, project forwards a couple decades and look back on your life. Would you wish you’d continued or are you happy that you quit? The answer is often quite easy.

Many of us have seen great sporting feats where a team or an individual was down and out; yet they found something from deep within them that turned everything around. It is these stories that we find inspirational and Rocky is a classic example of this. But why not be your own inspiration? Why not reach deep down from within yourself and inspire your own revival? After all, what do you have to lose?

Remember, this thing called life has an end – but it ends when our hearts give out and not before. And as far as I’m concerned I’m going to keep striving for what I want from life until one of the following two things happen. Either, I’m going to get what I want or I’m going to die first – it’s just that simple. How about you? Are you willing to dedicate your life to achieving something glorious or are you going to allow life “to beat you to your knees”?

What strategies do you use to bounce back from adversity? Remember, “there ain’t nobody who can hit as hard as life but it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forwards. How much you can take and keep moving forwards.”

Leave me a comment below and let me know if you think Rocky’s advice is sound and what strategies you use to get back up again when life knocks you down. I’d love to hear from you.

And finally, if you ever feel like things are getting too much, remember the famous words of Winston Churchill:  “Never, never, never, never give up!”

To bouncing back from adversity,

Niro

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In life, many of us have a tendency to complain about our situation, about the fact that the deal we were dealt was unfair. Too many of us then focus on all the things that are wrong and bad, rather than the things that are good, positive and wholesome. Many of us also let the things we cannot do prevent us from doing the things we can do. We’ve all been guilty of this at some time or another – I know I have.

However, when I watched this video, it humbled me and brought me to tears. This is the story of a  boy who is crippled and blind and yet plays the paino amazingly well. This is a story of a father who will do anything for his son – and together, the two of them are making magic.

Watch this video now!

If you watched this video, then please do two things for me:

1. Leave me a comment below and let me know how this video touched you.

2. Share this video on Facebook, Twitter, Digg or even via email. Sometimes a few minutes of inspiration can be just the tonic someone you know needs.

Thank you and God Bless,

Niro

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Will Smith is one of the most sought after actors in Hollywood. In this video, which is a compilation of different Will Smith Videos, Smith outlines his philosophy for success and living the life of your dreams. The wisdom in this video is truly amazing and I encourage you to watch it and integrate it into your own philosophy for living.

Some of my favourite lines are:

• I have a great time with my life
• If you are not making someone else’s life better, you are wasting your time.
• Greatness is something that truly exists in all of us
• The separation of talent and skill is one of the most misunderstood concepts by people who are trying to achieve something
• Where I excel is ridiculous, sickening work ethic.
• If you’re going to be here, there is a necessity to make a difference.
• I want the world to be better because I was here.

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If you enjoyed this video, please share it on twitter, digg or stumbleupon. I’d really appreciate it

Finally, leave me a comment. I’d love to hear what you think of this and please let me know if you would like to see more of these types of videos.

Thanks, Niro

This is one of my absolutely favourite poems. I think the words within this will serve us now and forever, especially during times of challenge. The poem talks about how to handle times of crisis, when things are out of our control and we feel that there is no justice. We’ve all been there. I have recorded a short 3 minute video where I read out the poem and then I’ve included the lyrics below. I hope this serves as inspiration to you as well.

‘if’ by rudyard kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master,
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)