Home
>
Success
>
Success Doesnt Always Come Easy

Success Doesnt Always Come Easy

On a raw, cold day in the European Alps, Lance Armstrong steered his bike into the sleeting snow, then stopped. His partner riding in the car behind him urged Lance to give it up for the day and return to the comfort of his shelter.

But Lance Armstrong considered himself a winner, and a person who was willing to do whatever it took to accomplish his goals. With the frigid cold and wailing wind biting at his back, Armstrong said, "No, I'm going on."

Hopping back on his bike he rode for seven more hours, in that storm.....alone. Lance was determined, determined to win ......and win the three week, 2,290 mile Tour de France bicycle race he did!

He won because he was willing to do absolutely anything, including riding in weather conditions when no one else would ride.

Growing up his mother Linda taught Lance a most valuable lesson he never forgot: "Son, you never quit." That lesson was to prove invaluable to Armstrong in 1996.

After winning the Tour Dupont and competing in the Olympics, Lance became ill and was diagnosed with testicular cancer. At one point, his doctors gave him chances of surviving at less than 50%.

Undergoing chemotherapy and even a very risky brain surgery to remove cancerous lesions, Armstrong became physically weak, but managed to stay mentally strong.

He began to set goals of having his blood counts being at levels doctors told him they should be. Lance would actually visualize his counts meeting the doctors hoped for marks. He says, "I would concentrate on that number, as if I could make the counts by mentally willing it."

Between his efforts and the excellent care of his physicians, it worked. Lance Armstrong was soon declared cancer free!

Racing didn't come easy for him either. His first race in 1992, Lance finished dead last - 111th out of 111 riders. In fact as he was pedaling up the last stretch of the race, the crowds jeered and laughed at him calling him name after name.

Armstrong really thought about giving up the sport, but then his mother's words flashed through his mind - never quit!

One year later Armstrong became the youngest athlete to ever win the World Race Championship held in Oslo, Norway.

Soon after his Tour de France win in 1999, critics accused him of taking performance enhancing drugs. But Lance proved that wasn't the case by testing clean over and over.

His response to the critics: "Everybody wants to know what I'm on. What am I on? I'm on my bike busting my rear six hours a day!"

Lance Armstrong is a firm believer in setting goals. Big long term goals and small short term goals. He doesn't believe in luck or any of the traditional success acronyms; he does believe in hard work to accomplish what he wants to do and in never, ever giving up or giving in until those goals are met.

Dave Cole
ChooseToProsper
Copyright ? 2004

Check out our Sports site with lots of great info on sports you will enjoy finding out about. http://ponyball.net

We also publish a Motivational newsletter, info at: http://ponyball.net

same day cleaning service Wilmette ...

In The News:

Ahold Delhaize's cybersecurity incident knocked online ordering and digital coupons offline at Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Hannaford and Giant Food stores.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Amazon's About You feature includes personality details from your shopping history, and some shoppers are finding hilariously awkward results.

Identity theft recovery starts with securing bank accounts, freezing credit and enabling two-factor authentication within the first 24 hours.

Apple's $299 HomeView smart display uses facial recognition to personalize screens for up to six household members and show live security camera feeds.

Domonique DuBose spotted red flags when a man on Hinge with 85,000 followers and a blue checkmark claimed to be a San Francisco 49ers player.

Your phone's location data can expose visits to doctors, pharmacies and places of worship. The FTC took action against data brokers selling this data.

Hackers targeted Danfoss refrigerator controls across French supermarkets, forcing chains like Carrefour and Monoprix to discard massive food stocks.

iOS 27 finally lets iPhone Shared Albums store photos and videos at full resolution in iCloud, but new items count toward the owner's storage.

A fake Facebook Marketplace text scam uses your real name as the seller to trick you into replying, and Malwarebytes warns even one response helps.

The Pentagon data breach exposed 2.76 million Social Security numbers and military records, raising long-term identity theft concerns for veterans.

Kodiak AI plans to haul IKEA freight on Texas highways with no one in the cab, raising urgent cybersecurity and safety questions for drivers.

Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 adds Extend and Reframe tools to Photos, letting iPhones generate new background areas beyond your original borders.

Microsoft's X account was hijacked to promote a crypto pump-and-dump scheme, exposing its more than 13 million followers to a scam campaign.

Scammers can combine your name, phone number and address with data breach details to attempt SIM swaps, phishing and even identity theft schemes.

ChatGPT Work, Meta Muse and Gemini Spark can monitor flight prices, sort your email inbox and track important deadlines, but savvy users start small.

iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel each hide a built-in tool that turns a video frame into a separate photo without any screenshot needed.

Operation KillSwitch dismantled KillSec's ransomware infrastructure, but investigators say a 16-year-old allegedly ran the entire cybercrime operation.

The Fox News Artificial Intelligence newsletter covers where voters will decide on AI data center ballot measures and Jeff Bezos' tech vision.

Apple's Impersonation Risk Detection in iOS 27 can flag suspicious activity inside apps, but the setting is off by default and must be enabled.

Federal Election Commission records can expose your name, address, employer and donation history once contributions exceed the $200 threshold.

Cybersecurity expert Morgan Wright says human skepticism remains the strongest defense against AI-driven phishing scams and voice cloning fraud schemes.

iPhone, Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy each handle security updates differently, and one screen saying "up to date" may not tell the whole story.

Deborah Del Mastro heard what sounded like her daughter's terrified voice on the phone, launching a five-hour virtual kidnapping scam ordeal.

Hotel TV privacy risks go beyond forgotten passwords when you sign into Netflix or other streaming apps on shared devices you don't control.