Life is a gruelling task. It demands an effort that often proceeds your own ability. It cares little for how you feel and does its best to expose your weaknesses. Ultimately its hard and thus, tiring. But life rewards those that see past this. It grabs hold of those special individuals that push themselves beyond their immediately presented limits and elevates them to extraordinary places. See in life, the things that happen to you do not matter, but instead, it looks at what you do with your circumstances and how far you are willing to go before truly calling it quits.

“There is no failure except in no longer trying.” — Elbert Hubbard

You’ve been running and misplaced your foot. You’ve fallen. Suddenly, the path you were previously on becomes unclear and the ability to stand back up and continue running seems impossible. Your legs ache. Your body is spent. Your mind is exhausted. But you are not to give up here. Do not allow a temporary setback (and that is exactly what it is, regardless of what you tell yourself) to hold you back. Stand up. Continue down the path that leads you where you always wanted to go. Get back at it.

Often, all it requires is one sentence, one push, one realisation, one harsh truth to bring you back on your feet — so here’s 34:

1. You’ve just begun.

2. Anything worthwhile takes time, dedication, sacrifice, and effort.

3. You haven’t clearly defined your finish line.

4. Your presence matters. You need to be seen, heard and felt.

5. That voice you’re listening to doesn’t matter.

6. That voice you’re not listening to inside of you, does matter.

7. Remember what it feels like to complete something, you’ve probably forgotten that incredible feeling.

8. The clock is merciless; it will keep marching on without you. You may as well do something incredible with the time it provides you.

9. Being right is not enough; you have to prove it.

10. You will only know if your project is loved for sure, once it’s in the hands of your market.

11. This is a step toward building incredible discipline.

12. Fulfilling your purpose is an ongoing series of decisions, not a fate.

13. Re-think your approach. You still have other chances to win. Maybe you just haven’t seen the correct way to.

14. You’re a lot closer than you think you are.

15. You can rest tomorrow.

16. You have everything you need, you’re just not paying enough attention to it.

17. People are watching.

18. You have a safety net. You might not need it, for without it, you could go so much further.

19. Somebody’s going to take over the world, and it might as well be you.

20. Working is more satisfying than worrying.

21. The people who don’t care about you want you to disappear. Will you let them?

22. Life is a lot more fun when you’re in the hunt for something.

23. If everyone else were doing what you were doing, you’d have less than half the opportunities you have and will have.

24. You’ve only lost the battle, not the war.

25. You still haven’t given it your all. You’ve got a bit of fight left in you.

26. You are still alive.

27. Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star in 1919. His editor at the time said he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”

28. After his performance at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, Elvis was told by the concert hall manager that he’d be better off returning to Memphis and going back to his previous career of driving trucks.

29. When she was finally signed onto a major record label, Lady Gaga was dropped and only after three months of being signed.

30. When Marilyn Monroe was trying to start her career, modelling agencies told her she should consider becoming a secretary.

31. Stephen King’s most renowned and first book, Carrie, was rejected thirty times.

32. Steve Jobs was fired from his own company and still managed to come back to make it one of the world’s most successful.

33. Much like everyone you admire, you are also human. You have the ability to do so much.

34. History is still being written and you can grab the pen.

This article was originally published on www.justincampbellplatt.com