In my vocation and profession, I have had an incredible amount of good fortune and luck. I have travelled the world, stayed in the most amazing places, met thousands of people and their dogs, helped people get to World Championships, win at Crufts, overcome their obstacles and achieve their dreams. I consider myself so blessed to be able to follow my passion and do what I do.
And whilst I have been lucky and blessed in so many ways, I also know that whilst ‘Lady Luck’ play’s her part, when she comes knocking, you need to be ready!
Oscar winner and world renowned superstar, Denzil Washington, delivered a talk to young aspiring actors about Dreams and Goal…I stumbled across this years whilst in the rabbit hole that is Youtube, and it really resonated with me, about how I see my work, life and character….. he has so many other inspirational talks, but this is one that really summarise everything anyone needs to know about achieving your dreams…
This is part of a longer speech but this portion truly hit a nerve….
I know no other way to achieve dreams, then to work…. to have discipline and commitment. We can all say ‘I don’t have enough time’, ‘the weather has been bad’, ‘it gets dark early’… and the endless list of perfectly justifiable reasons for you not to do the work…. But it all comes back to that question… ‘How hard are you willing to work?’ ‘How badly do you want it’ and ‘how committed are you?’
When you start talking about discipline and commitment, it sometimes can be over whelming. But starting with a daily commitment to 5mins of training is all it takes. When the kettle is on, or that 5mins before your favourite program starts, pick up your dog and work on something.
Discipline and commitment is something that only you can make the decisions to invest in.
There are times that I don’t want to go to the Gym, or weather that puts me off training, or knowing that I have a challenge to work on… and I want to avoid it, not do it or simply not bother… but then I think of the goal I have, and the thought of knowing that I didn’t give it my all, and not reaching my goal because I didn’t have discipline and commitment, and that provides all the motivation I need. Its ok to not achieve your goals, if you have tried and given it your all. This isn’t a ‘failure’ as the very essence of your commitment is a success.
Dog Sports is a testing endeavour. The highs and lows, the emotional and financial costs, the challenges, the set backs… all for that one day, that one moment when it all comes together, and all the tears and dramas are worth it… LOL! Its quite a rollercoaster!!
Without discipline and commitment, that rollercoaster is bound to go off the rails… without embracing discipline and commitment the pot of gold at the end, will seem worthless, without the discipline and commitment, the destination will never be reached.
Kamal Fernandez dog training blog 