Flogging A Dead Horse

Fear not animal lovers, today's blog entry is definitely not about animal brutality. I'm dead against that as it is, but that's a totally different subject for another day. Today I talk of the phrase "flogging a dead horse", first used by an English politician by the name of John Bright, all the way back in 1859, when he was addressing the House of Commons about a political campaign he felt was not producing results. The meaning behind this idiom is that it's a waste time and effort trying to do something that is impossible, or applying oneself to a particular venture or task that is a waste of time, as there will be no desired outcome. For anyone who has ever made a genuine effort to pursue and achieve their goals, would well know of the unrelenting, and spirit crushing, challenges they faced along the journey. Because such a journey usually takes an extreme amount of effort, hard work, resilience, and patience, there will always be times where doubt creeps in, as it so often feels like progress isn't being made, and the goal feels no closer. Such a belief is actually far from the truth, because even with failure, each time we overcome it, and persevere towards our goals, we are learning, growing, developing, and maturing, all traits which actually help guide us to success. Most of us fail to see it this way however, as we are too focused on achieving the goals themselves, rather than celebrating the small wins, and taking the time to embrace the journey. It's actually at this juncture of failure that many people opt to give up and concede that achieving their goals may just be mere fantasy, rather than reality. They have worked hard, they have been 100% committed, they have invested so much time, effort, and money into it, and yet they keep facing non-stop challenges and failures, and it's why they start to believe they are in fact just flogging a dead horse. They start believing they are doing the impossible, or just wasting time on something and not getting the desired outcome.

It's one thing that doubt creeps into our own head, when we continually face these challenges and failures, yet it becomes compounded when others lose complete faith and hope in our abilities and prospects also, especially when it's our friends and loved ones. Whilst we try and remain motivated and focused, right from the beginning, these other people believed we were never going to achieve what we set out to achieve, and these constant challenges and failures we encounter, start to reaffirm their beliefs. They definitely believe we are flogging a dead horse. It's sad really, because it's these times we are most desperate for support, encouragement, help, and inspiration, yet those we thought would be there for us, end up turning their backs on us. With the self doubt, combined with the criticism and lack of support from our friends and loved ones, plus the ongoing discomfort of adversity, struggle, and hardship, it's no wonder that most of us give up on our dreams. The most disturbing part to this though, is said perfectly in Thomas Edison's quote; "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." There are just four distinct characteristics that separate those who succeed from those who fail, and they are patience, perseverance, resilience, and adaptability. Goals take significant time, many years in fact if they are truly life transforming goals, therefore we just need to continually remain patient, and keep working hard. The journey to achieving our goals has us confronting these constant challenges and failures, therefore we need to continue to remain resilient, and pick ourselves up every single time, to continue moving forward. We need to have the drive and determination to continue to working towards our goals, exercising our perseverance, and never viewing giving up as an option. The one where most people go wrong, is the adaptability piece. This is where a journey can turn into flogging a dead horse. The goal itself and the desired outcome are definitely achievable, and the journey itself is definitely worth the time and effort, but if certain actions aren't generating results, then we need to make changes, not sit back and hope things change for the better for us. The pursuit itself is not a failure, nor are you a failure, it's just the action that is failing. It only takes one subtle change, and success may form. Normally, it will take several actions, several failures, and several changes, before we hit the jackpot, but that's how success has a habit of working.

Find the strength and courage to keep going. Switch off from those who fail to support you, who are constantly criticizing and doubting you and your abilities. Refuse to accept the belief and doubt that you can't achieve what you desire. because, with the right attitude and application, you will find you can achieve anything you put your mind to. We all have this immense potential within us, yet we bottle it up rather than showcasing it to the world, because we make decisions based on fear and doubt. We need to be positive, and trust in our abilities. When you are facing failures and challenges, and not generating the success you envisioned, keep the faith, because although people will tell you that you are flogging a dead horse, they only ever see the horse lying listless on the ground and assume that it's dead, when the truth is, it's just waiting for you to try something different other than flogging it, so it can spring to it's feet and run free in the beautiful countryside. Don't give in to failure, because failure doesn't exist, not unless you accept a certain result as failure. Failure is nothing more than a learning curve, a trigger to change actions, an opportunity to strengthen our resilience, and a stepping stone to success. You can indeed achieve your goals, just remember to remain patient and resilient, persevere, and be adaptable to change any actions that aren't producing results.

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