021. You'll Find A Way With A Big Enough Why
I heard this awesome story about grit, courage, passion, and superhuman strength the other day. Here’s what my friend said…
I was in Brooklyn, New York, at Coney Island and on stage was a big, muscular strongman performing some amazing feats of strength. He was ripping phone books in half and bending crowbars with his hands to the thunderous applause of his audience.
In one of his acts, he pulled out a lemon and squeezed all of the juice out. He then said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am a strongman. I’ve squeezed all the juice out of this lemon. I will give $1,000 to anyone who can come up and extract one more drop.”
In response, two giant Dallas Cowboy-like football players went on stage to give it a try. The first guy grabbed the lemon and gave it a good, hard squeeze. No drop!
The crowd laughed in amusement as he stepped back to let his friend give the lemon a squeeze. The crowd went silent and watched the second guy give the lemon a squeeze, contorting his face in grimaced concentration. He suddenly released his grip with a gasp for air, but still not one drop of lemon juice.
The crowd laughed and applauded as the two men exited the stage. The strongman was left on stage holding his arms in the air with the lemon in his hand when he saw an old lady, who looked to be in her seventies, walking up the stairs onto the stage.
The strongman said, “Ma’am, for the sake of time, can we move on? You are not going to squeeze any juice out of the lemon. I mean… c’mon! The guys who just tried couldn’t do it and they looked like professional football players.”
“Sir, just give me a chance,” the old lady politely pleaded.
“Okay. Here you go. One chance,” said the strongman, who handed her the lemon as the crowd cheered in support.
The old lady took the lemon within her hands and began to squeeze. Her face contorted, her jaw set, her veins popped out of her forehead, her glasses feel off, and her entire body shook back and forth from her intense struggle with the lemon as she squeezed it with all her might.
BOOM!!
Out popped one drop of lemon juice!!!
The audience erupted in applause! The sounds of clapping, whistles, and cheers rang throughout the fair. The strongman was blown away as he was compelled to show the audience the plate on which the drop of lemon juice had fallen. The old lady stood there onstage with her hands on her knees as she collected her breath. It was a scene to behold.
Then the strongman walked over with a check he has just written out for $1,000 and handed it to the lady as he said, “Ma’am, you have got to tell us. I’ve never had anyone squeeze an extra drop of juice out of that lemon – how did you do it?”
She replied, “Sir, I have to tell you. I am 74 years old. I just lost my husband. I’ve got three grandchildren that we’re raising and I just lost my job. I needed that money.”
The old lady was motivated. She was committed. She had a reason WHY she needed to squeeze that juice out of the lemon. With a big enough reason why, you will always find a way how.
Your reason why is the fuel that burns the fire of inspiration and motivation inside of you.
So what is your “why”? Why do you do what you do? Why are you reading this right now? What do you want to accomplish in your life, this year, this quarter, this week, today? What is your process for making those dreams a reality?
Most people think motivation and commitment are things that you can do once in a while by reading a book, watching a movie, or hearing a motivational speaker. Most people think that is all it takes for you to stay motivated. Realistically, that could not be farther from the truth. Although those experiences may spark a flame, in order to fan the flame and make it burn with a passion, you must have a BIG reason why.
