Daily Gratitude: “Every setback carries a message.”

I can attest to the truth of this statement. Let’s just talk about my training for Vol State this year (2026), not the race itself. I had so many setbacks that it was hard to just keep training and not get discouraged.

So what messages did I get?

I have to keep remembering the compound effect and that I have to be persistent and consistent.

This involves patience and my bank account for patience is not overflowing. Ha. That’s an understatement. But the patience is required when you think of the compound effect. Little by little my body (and mind) are getting tweaks with each day of training. This applies to mental preparation too.

That’s an even more important message – the mental aspect of this race is frequently more important than the physical. I learned that in my debacle last year. But that experience taught me so much.

Another message is that my brain is extremely powerful (as is yours). What i see its power in, however, is in creating physical symptoms that are neuroplastic (neural circuit disorders). I’ve had to work very hard to identify them and then overcome them. That, in itself, has reminded me that I should be able to deal with whatever develops during the race.

Of course the big test is going to be my left knee and leg and that’s where I’ll have to use whatever mental toughness I can muster.

These are only some of the messages and lessons from this one setback.

Can you look back at your life and see messages you’ve received from one or more setbacks?

Daily Gratitude: “Most real failures are due to limitations which men set up in their own minds.”

The key here is “real” in front of failure. We could also talk about perceived failures and I think they are due to unreasonable expectations which humans set for themselves.

I think Napoleon Hill is talking about actually failing at something. And he’s saying that we have limits on our talents and abilities already decided in our minds. “I’m not good enough to x,y,z” or the “you’ll never make it very far in life” message parents or teachers install in our brains like an app. My father told me I’d never be any good with money. So do you think I can even balance my checkbook or make a budget? heck no. That’s a limitation that my brain has as part of its operating system.

When someone does something that hits up against that limitation (limiting belief), their brain says “OK, we’ve done all we can. We have to stop now.” And it just stops even when the thing/project isn’t completed. Then it’s a failure and you know what? The brain sees that “failure” and strengthens the neural circuit grooves and so the next time that person tries the same or something similar, the exact same thing happens. Failure.

This is why we need to examine our core beliefs and identify the ones that are limiting. Then we need to replace the limiting ones with the expanding ones. Visualization and affirmations help with that too.

Examine your past to see things that have been REAL failures and see if you can see this pattern there.

Daily Gratitude: “You can get to where you want to be from wherever you are-but you must stop spending so much time noticing and talking about what you do not like about where you are.”

This is key. You bring to you things that vibrate at a similar frequency to that which you’re giving off. It’s the Law of Attraction. And yes, I know you’re going to cite all those situations where everyone says “opposites attract” and although the most obvious characteristics in that pair may seem opposite, I bet you that the deepest qualities are the same. Maybe one’s an introvert and the other a full blown extrovert. If you look underneath they most likely both believe in the right and need to take care of and seek what feeds their souls.

When we talk about where we are now if it’s not where we want to be and if we complain that we don’t have all we want, we’re putting out vibrations of lack and even of scarcity. We ask “why me” and bemoan that it isn’t what you really want. All this does is bring more of the same into your life. So you complain more.

The universe doesn’t understand you don’t want more. It just knows you’re talking about something an awful lot so you must want more of it.

Instead you should dream about and talk about all that you want and do so in a positive way not a “poor me” way. Why do you think that little kids who want to be stars or be Olympians pursue nothing but that from their youth on. They live, breathe, eat and drink their desires. They see no way that it won’t come true.

We should adopt these little kids attitudes every day of our lives.

We also have to think, talk and act like this in every aspect of our lives. If you are “up” and positive in your career choice, but complain about (and complaining can be internal too) your health or your relationship or your home, etc., that will negate all you’re doing on the positive front.

How long can you go without talking about AND thinking about things you don’t want or don’t have?