“Hard days are the best — that’s where champions are made.”
Gabby Douglas

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.”
Abraham Lincoln

Hard days — we’ve all had their bitter taste in our mouths. we’ve all felt the pain and disappointment when our writing doesn’t go well. When we feel sluggish and uninspired, clogged instead creative. Days when someone we counted on rejected our work or when a publication turned us down. It can be tough to bounce back, tough to continue in believing ourselves and stay focused on our goals.

And yet, here’s that feisty firecracker Gabby Douglas — the gold medal gymnast they call the “flying Squirrel” — telling us that the hard days are the best, not just because they test our mettle, but because they are the days that can transform us from wannabees to winners, from dreamers to doers.

Why? Why are hard days to be savored and sought after rather than avoided? I think my friend and mentor Rob Gilbert has the answer. On his Success Hotline (973.743.4690) he’s said that there’s nothing more satisfying than grappling with something difficult that you really care about.

How true this is! Struggling to achieve something that you’re passionate about is the sweetest struggle — the one that brings you true joy and fulfillment. The hard days — the ones where we push through and over-reach ourselves, where we battle for what we want — these are the days that prove to us that we can persevere, that we’ll do whatever it takes, that we won’t give in. And as Golden Gabby, wise beyond her years, said — it’s this determination that is the stuff of champions. Write on!