Imagine this scenario.

You are an incredible athlete. You’ve been training in your sport since you were thirteen years old and you’re on the fast track to being at the top of your game. You’re winning race after race and well on your way to being the absolute best you can be. You’ve also signed a very lucrative contract with a sponsor. You’re living your dream, man. Life has never been better.

Now, imagine your world coming crashing down all around you as you’re diagnosed with such a deadly disease that your doctor only gives you a 40% chance of recovery. That’s right - forty percent!

And on top of all that - you’re only 25 years old.

What do you do?

Do you stop competing forever? Do you succumb to the deadly disease and decide to let it beat you? Or are you motivated to continue on your path to stardom, beat all the odds and enjoy the sweet smell of success that much more?

Well, if you’re Lance Armstrong, you certainly pick the latter.

As most of you know, Lance Armstrong has continued to beat the odds year in and year out. He not only beat a very aggressive case of testicular cancer that at one time had spread to his lungs and brain, but also won the grueling Tour de France seven consecutive times. Not once, not twice, but seven consecutive times! It’s an amazing story about an amazing man who has always had one thing going for him throughout the good times and the bad. The one thing Lance has that no one can ever take away from him is – his Motivation.

Motivation, after all, is that thing deep down inside every single one of us that drives us forward to taking action on our goals. The question is - how motivated are you? What makes you buckle down and take the steps necessary to achieve your dreams? If you know right now that you’re not where you want to be in life, you need to figure out what motivates you and use that to propel yourself to success in all areas of your life.

In other words, if you want the right things to happen to you – YOU have to make them happen!

You may be thinking, well that’s great and everything, but you don’t know about my life.

I know that your life is hard.

I know that times are tough.

But, I also know that you want more. And I know that you want to succeed. I know that you want to provide for yourself and your family. And I know that you have goals and dreams that you haven’t realized yet.

Now, I want you to think about Lance Armstrong’s story again. It’s a true-life story that shows you clearly how strong a role motivation can play in your life, if you’ll let it. It shows you that even the best of the best don’t have it easy all of the time. It shows you that hard work will eventually pay off in the end. And, above all, it shows you that if you can dream it …. You CAN do it.

Author's Bio: 

Susan Lynn Perry is President of PowerPro Consulting, monthly columnist for The Hill Country Voice, motivational speaker, corporate trainer and published author. Visit www.powerproconsulting.com for more information or email Ms. Perry at: susan@powerproconsulting.com