Three Feet From Gold - Are You Committed?

Have you heard the “3 Feet From Gold” story?

I’m certain it will encourage you to keep going, even through difficult times, not giving up on the goals and dreams you are working towards. (Click on image below if you prefer to watch a video rather than read.)

As the story goes, there was a man named Darby who was caught by gold fever in 1850. He staked a claim and went to work.

After weeks of labor, he was rewarded. The first gold ore was shipped to a smelter and showed promise that he had one of the richest mines in Colorado.

He was so excited knowing that the first few loads of ore they hauled out of the mine would clear his debts, and that next would come the big killing and profits!

He excitedly got to work. Then, something happened…

The vein of gold ore that he was following as he dug, disappeared. He desperately tried to pick up the vein again, but to no avail.

After continuing to dig and dig with no luck, Darby finally gave up.

He had invested all he had into the mining equipment and had nothing to show for it.

He sold it all for $100 (approx. $4,000 today) to a particular “junk man” that had an eye for opportunity. The junk man called in a geologist to do a little calculating.

The geologist told the junk man that he believed Darby had stopped digging just 3-5 feet from where the gold ore vein would likely resume again.

That is exactly where it was found…just 3 feet from where Darby had stopped digging!

The junkman ended up mining millions of dollars of gold from that mine.

When Darby heard about the riches, he would have earned had he not quit, he made one of the most important decisions of his life…he promised himself to never give up on his dreams again!

In his new line of work and as an insurance agent, Darby became one of less than 50 people in the 1800’s that sold over $1,000,000 worth of life insurance annually, the equivalent of about $40,000,000 today.

There are many lessons to be gleaned from this story, but the three I want to focus on are the following.

First, oftentimes the last “3 feet” before we have our breakthrough are very hard, and will often try our commitment, our vision, our patience, and our resolve.

This is just the way it is, so it’s helpful to know this in advance so we can be prepared to keep pushing with the going gets hard.

The second lesson I see in this “3 Feet from Gold” story is that too many people decide to give up on their dreams right before they get a chance to experience a breakthrough…because they lose hope and are unable to maintain their vision and their focus, in order to stay consistent long enough, to experience the success they desire.

Don’t let this happen to you!

Keep your eye on the prize. If it's worth chasing, it’s worth continuing.

The third takeaway is that most people who choose to quit on their dreams, unlike Darby discovered, will never know how close they were to the success they desired (their gold), when they quit.

Don’t let this happen to you.

Make the commitment NOW, in your business, in your health journey, in your relationships, that when times get hard you will NOT run back to your comfort zone but will instead keep “digging” towards the gold.

Anything worth working for is typically not easy. Easy is usually sleazy.

Let’s commit to consistency. Commit to finishing.

Starters are many, finishers are few.

Be a finisher! I believe in you!

Until next time,