“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”—Muhammad Ali
I might have used this quote the other day (“Making Exercise Fun.”). Exercise is not fun. Training for a specific performance is even harder—especially when one aspires to be a “champion”.
Ali was one of the great ones. (He believed he was “the greatest”.) Like Wilma Rudolph, Ali believed in himself (quite theatrically) more than anything in the world. Despite his self-confidence, he knew he had to work—work hard.
Greatness is not a gift. Greatness is the product of effort—much effort.
If we are to take the above quote as truth—and there is no reason not to—it is obvious that Ali trained hard. Ali understood that greatness exists beyond his limits of comfort. He kept pushing and never quit.
Greatness is not reserved for athletes. (Extra)ordinary people in all walks of life hate “every minute of training” and don’t quit. They put in the work—every day—and suffer the effort that they might “live the rest of (their) life as a champion”.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!