Last updated on January 22nd, 2019 at 02:08 pm
How will I ever make it?
Even motivational speakers wonder how they will ever get through this challenge.
How will I ever get this book written?
I have to lose 100 pounds. How will I ever do that?
There’s no way I can stop drinking for a whole week.
I’ve got a million things to do to get this business up and running!
The Power In This Hour
I remember when I decided to lose 80 pounds. “I need to lose 80 pounds” was the mantra I carried in my head every waking moment – a mantra that started out too heavy to carry and only got worse. In fact, it got so heavy, that I finally broke under it. I couldn’t do it. It was just too overwhelming. So I decided not to focus on the 80 pounds, or the 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, and 8,760 hours it would take to reach the goal. Instead I decided to focus on this moment, this hour. Just this one. And put everything else aside. I stopped waking up each morning saying, “I need to lose 80 pounds” and simply said I need to make it through this hour. And I found amazing strength in that hour. I always had the power in that hour.
When I needed to write a five-book Kindle series, I woke up every day under this crushing “I need to write five books” boulder, until I stopped focusing on the end goal, and just focused on this day. Today I will just write this chapter. And I found the strength to do it. For in that hour brought my power.
The reason that so many of us can’t reach that finish line is because the finish line is all we see. We focus on that huge overwhelming goal and it overpowers us – so much so that we put it down. But goals aren’t accomplished by lifting one giant boulder. They are reached in tiny moments – one hour at a time. And if we focus on the day, on the hour, it is easy. We can do it. Because all we have to do is get through this hour.
What huge goal is looming ahead of you? A marathon to run? A book to write? A wedding to plan? A business to create? Sure, you need to know what the end goal looks like. You have to see the finish line. You have to stay focused on where you want to go. But once you know, drop it and just focus on this hour. Don’t ask yourself how you will get there – how you will get it all done – how you will make it. Tell yourself you just have to make it through today. This hour. This moment. I promise that for this hour you have all the strength you need. For this hour can only bring so much to carry.
Stop trying to carry all the hours at once, or you will have no strength for any of it.
Maybe that’s what He meant when God said not to worry about tomorrow, for it will have enough troubles of its own. It’s not when we reach the finish line where we truly earned the victory – but in every tiny step.
There’s also another side to focusing on this day….
Kelly Swanson is an award-winning storyteller, comedian, motivational speaker, Huffington Post Contributor, and cast member of The Fashion Hero television show airing on Amazon Prime. She is also the author of Who Hijacked My Fairy Tale, The Land of If Only, The Story Formula, and The Affirmation Journal for Positive Thinking. She was a featured entertainer for Holland America Cruise Lines, keynote speaker for the International Toastmasters Convention, and has keynoted major conferences and corporate events from coast to coast. She just launched her one-woman show Who Hijacked My Fairy Tale in theaters, and it is being booked all over the country. In July of 2022, she was inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame.
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