Being is good, doing is better

I believe that confidence is very important. It's important because it gives you the confidence to do something.

That means you have to do something.

You also need to have a positive attitude so you can perservere. I completely forgot that I am not good at swimming and hate cold water while I tried to learn how to waterski.

I had a good attitude and I had the confidence to do the things necessary to make waterskiing happen.

I also knew that waterskiing just wouldn't happen overnight. I knew I'd have to work on it over time. I knew that I'd fail...a lot...but I continued to get better over time and became successful.

I focused on completing mini goals everytime I went out. I focused on improvement and I took advice when offered. Over time I got to the point where I could get out of the water. I progressed from doing that to being able to stay up. I still have a long way to go.

However, if I gave myself the unrealistic goal of getting amazing at waterskiing overnight I would have failed. I would have been unhappy that I didn't get out of the water the first time and next ten or so times I tried.

Its very important to focus on a big goal but you reach that goal by completing mini goals. As you accomplish a bunch of small very realistic goals you will be able to complete a huge goal over-time.

I progressed from not being get out of the water...to getting out of the water a little bit....to getting out of the water for a couple of seconds...to getting out of the water for 20 seconds...to completing laps around my lake...to now just begining to go over wakes.

Had I been discouraged early on I wouldn't be writing this. I had a positive attitude. I had the confidence to know that I could do it...then I went out and did things. I completed smaller goals over time. I improved each time. I tried to forget any mistakes and kept moving forward.

You can't go from being born to walking...first you have to sit up and be able to crawl.

Stay positive, set a big goal and acheive it by completing a lot of routine smaller goals over time.

Losers let losses get to them. They don't take any good things out of losses, they lose confidence and the willingness to continue to try and improve. Winners learn from losses. They realize they need to work and improve more. They realize that failing is part of the journey.