When I lived in California, I drove to work on a stretch of road that ran alongside the beach. It was a beautiful drive and several times a week I would see a man parked on the side of the road, sitting on the hood of his car playing the saxophone. I assumed he couldn’t play in his apartment or he would disturb his neighbors. Saxophones are very loud. But if you want to be a professional sax player, you need to practice, so there he was without fail week after week. We must do these things if we want to have the career.

One of the people I admire greatly is Sarah Brightman. I love her beautiful voice and the spectacular shows she puts on in large venues. It’s rare for a woman alone — as in not the front of a rock band — to be able to travel the world and fill such large stadiums as a one-woman act. It’s not just her talent, but her drive and commitment to her career that I admire. A few times I’ve heard her use the phrase, “We must do these things.”

Once I was watching behind-the-scenes footage of Sarah Brightman on a photo shoot on a beach. She was lying on the sand waiting for the waves to crash over her to get the perfect shot. She mentioned how cold it was that day, and then she said, “but we must do these things.”

Another time she was giving a backstage tour during one of her concerts and in her dressing room she had a portable stepper. She mentioned how she didn’t like to exercise, but, “we must do these things.”

I’ve taken this as my mantra.

We Must Do These Things

I’m sure we’ve all experienced those times when we really don’t feel like going to the gym, or writing that blog post, or making that sales call. But we must do these things. And we will be better off for it personally and professionally.

It’s a matter of discipline. I don’t mean discipline as in punishment or a reprimand, but the discipline of a performer, of the dancer at the ballet barre, the discipline of hard work, the kind of discipline that puts you ahead of your competition.

I don’t always want to put on makeup and fix my hair to make a video tutorial, but I do.

I don’t always have a fresh idea for a blog post, but I sit down to write one anyway, and thankfully something always pops into my mind.

I don’t always feel like cooking, but I always appreciate eating the healthy meal after it’s done.

I don’t always want to get on the treadmill, but I feel a lot better after I do.

We don’t always want to go to the office on Monday and start a whole new work week, but we must do these things, or we need to find an alternative way of paying the bills.

What tasks do you normally put off? Try telling yourself, “we must do these things,” and push through them. If you want to make progress in your business or in your personal life, sometimes we must do these things.