I read a great article the other day by Michael Masterson. He told of a story about a friend of his who was a professional football player.

The way he told the story was that this football player was one of the best in the business. He was also smart, innovative and able to do nearly anything he put his hand to. But…there was one problem. He rarely put his hand to anything.

He had told Michael that he wanted to write a book. He kept bemoaning the fact that he hadn't been able to sit down and do it year after year. Meanwhile he would ask his friend to join him out to enjoy the nightlife and other activities constantly.

Michael consistently and politely said "no" to his friend's requests and continued working on his various projects and businesses. And of course…spending time with his family.

During a three year period of time Michael finished three best selling books and greatly increased the size and scope of the businesses he was working on. His football star friend never started his book and ended his football career with a whimper…he never made it to the hall of fame even though his talents were much more evident than many others.

What was the difference? Michael, and many of these other football players worked extremely hard at their individual pursuits and crafts. Michael's friend, very naturally talented, never put much effort into anything at all.

I was telling my daughter the other day something similar to this in relation to overcoming your fear of doing something in life. The two lessons go hand in hand.

In order to overcome fear…you have to walk through it and do the very thing your afraid of. In relationship to my conversation with my daughter we were talking about soccer, but we could have been talking about anything in life where fear is attached.

I told her that if she never took risks during games…she would never overcome her fear and therefore do those very things that she longed to do. In her case it is putting dribbling moves on the defender (which she is very good at in practice) during game time. We talked about this on our way to her game.

She very much understood the concept that if you never do it…you will never do it. I don't think many people ever really think this through. If you don't take that first step, you never will get to the finish line…it is a simple concept.

Michael Masterson's football friend was never willing to take that first step of discipline…to step through his seeming unwillingness (probably fear based in one way or another) and get moving on his dream of writing a book. To this day…he never has done it.

My 12 year old daughter, on the other hand, took my words to heart and decided to take a risk in her game. She went on a run where she dribbled past three people to put herself into a scoring position. I had never seen her do this in a game situation ever before.

I was extremely proud of her but that is exactly what needs to happen to ever start moving forward toward success…whether it be business, relationships, writing your own book or whatever. You simply need to start. You need to sit down and begin the process. And, once you begin the process you must never quit.

As the great Winston Churchill once said in a speech: "NEVER, NEVER, NEVER QUIT!"

I had been in the mode of the football player myself. I had a dream to be a writer. I was never a true writer though. Why? I never wrote. I had very good writing skills…but I never wrote consistently enough to call myself a writer. Then I challenged myself to finish my first book.

I had started many before but had never made it past the very beginning stages. No…I actually made a public commitment on Scott Brandon Hoffman's Blog that I was going to finish my first book. Guess what? I did!

If you never do it…it will never get done. And you must never give up in the process if you ever want to fulfill your desires and dreams and become successful.

I hope these thoughts have been helpful…please leave a comment and RT.  Thanks and Blessings!