Before The Finish Line: 3 Tips To Persevere In Your Dreams

Most people give up right before their breakthrough, not because they can't do it, but because they lose sight of why they started, aren't taking action, or set unrealistic expectations about the journey. In this episode, we dive into the mindset required to persevere when progress feels slow, hard, or uncertain.

If you’re working toward something meaningful and feeling the weight of the process, ask yourself:

• Do you know exactly what you want?
• Are you reconnecting with that vision daily?
• Are you taking consistent, aligned action?
• Are you being honest about the time, effort, and struggle it will take to get there?

When you’re clear on your goal, move towards it with action, and are realistic about the obstacles, you’ll be far more resilient when challenges arise, because you expected them. In this episode, I’ll share a personal story and reveal the truth behind what it really takes to bring a dream to life.

To subscribe, comment, or ask a question, visit www.donnyraus.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Most people spend their entire life stressed without ever giving a single thought as to what it is they really want and what's important. See how we hear the copy of all the noise connecting you to yourself and the life that you were meant to live. I used to live away the copper job and I hate it. But I broke through the source of the noise because too much. As a result, I am my own coffee company. I'm just supposed to company. And I get this craft. You too late a life that you want to do. I'm your host on the rouse. One line. Good morning guys. Donnie Rouse here, and uh today I want to talk about perseverance. Going that extra mile because I feel like um if I know, I mean, when I say I feel, I say from my own experience, I know that uh when I'm going towards something, sometimes I make the journey there so difficult, like I'm pushing a giant boulder uphill. But it doesn't always have to be that way. And we also have to know, like, when we are being realistic with our expectations towards whatever it is we want to we want in our life. And I'll I'm gonna go over these three things about perseverance, and I'm just gonna go right into the story and explain it so this way you can ref see the reflection in my life and apply it to your own. So the first of these, if you want to persevere, you have to know what it is you were going for, right? What is it that you want? Do you know and do you know with clarity? So when you understand and you know with clarity, that is the pull, that is the magnet that pulls you forward. Think of a time when you were going after something, but you had a very, very vague understanding. How much did you feel that magnetic pull? How real did the result feel on your journey there? And I guess the last question is did you complete it with that vagueness of what you wanted? Did you finish the objective, what you were going towards? Now, there is a possibility that in the process, and I'm not gonna knock this, in the process of actually pursuing something, we get clarity in the process, so long as we're setting the intention to get more clarity on the way. That's just kind of one of the things that happens with life. Now, but let's contrast that with knowing what exactly it is you want. When you know exactly what it is you want and you're constantly fixed on it, now all of a sudden, when times get tough and they will get tough, right? Any goal that requires you to stretch is gonna get tough. You want something that you don't have, it's gonna get tough. You need to know what it is you want with clarity because with that clarity, with that image in your mind comes emotion. And it really is the emotion that is going to pull you through. When I think about my uh in my own life, I mean, most recently was a um the desire to create an espresso blend, right? I've I've created blends of for espresso, but they were never what I would say Italian espresso, right? Because there's a whole different methodology when you're talking about espresso. There's like the blend, how the roasting style, like the how dark you take it, as well as how you're developing the coffee at different stages of the roasting process. So, you know, and then I never I always had this dream, but for a while it almost seemed out of reach. Because I'm like, well, I if I'm gonna learn, I have to go to Italy to do this because who will who better to learn than the Italians? And I'd spoken to enough people here, and the methodology just the methodology just didn't make sense to me. But I knew what I wanted. I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted to create my own espresso blend to rival the best of the Italian espresso. And also I wanted it to be fresh. That's one of the reasons why I was doing it because you can't get a fresh Italian espresso here. It's all by the time you get it, it's like half a year old and it's lost all the its precious gas of the crema, perseverance sucks. Um, but I knew what I wanted, and this has been one of the goals since I started in coffee over uh, well, I mean, my own business for 15 years now, just to give you an idea as never giving up, never letting that that dream wane. And now I am closer to that result, right? I've done the uh I've done taken big action and I've created my blend, and I'm at a place where the the blend I made is actually quite good. It's not there yet. So it's again keeping that vision in mind of what it is that I want for that espresso and moving forward, which brings me to step number two, action. Are you taking action towards what it is that you want? Now, if you're not taking action and you're not fixed your sights on what it is you want, you're not gonna go very far. So, in order to do anything, it's important to get in motion so this way you could start to create momentum. When I decided, like when I really decided that I was gonna create my espresso blend, for example, like I had been, you know, I'd been hemming and hauling, I've been trying to figure it out my own. And there's a couple ways of doing this, right? With anything in life, you could figure it out on your own, right? It's uh you know, I guess less expensive, so to speak, up front, but it takes longer. And I will willing to say that it takes it costs a lot more too, because you have to pay your dues in learning. Or you could pay someone professional to help you outdo it for you and cut that time in half. I had been doing this for quite a while at it, and I was, you know what, I I know if I were to just stick with it, I could eventually figure it out. I don't doubt that for a second. But I wasn't willing to wait. It got to a point where I was like, all right, well, this is stupid. Like I can keep going and and you know, eventually figure it out maybe five, ten years from now, am I really gonna wait that long to put on like to create my espresso blend? Or I could find a professional, someone to help me. So this way they can close that gap and I could actually, I could have the thing I want sooner. That's when I desire to hire, I decided to hire one of the, if not the best espresso consultant in the world. Which brings me to point number three. You're be realistic with what you expect, with your expectations, right? What does that mean? Be realistic with it. Let's look at the opposite of what being realistic means, right? So me wanting the espresso blend and I want it by next week, right? Is that real realistic for me to say that I want it one week, one month? Maybe, right? Nothing's impossible, but without taking the steps, right? How could I possibly create that espresso blend? It's gonna cost me a shit ton, right? Because the amount of coffee I would have to burn through just trying to figure out certain concepts. And being realistic was one with is being realistic with the time, like how long is it gonna take? Another example in my own life is creating a freedom lifestyle where like I wanted to inspire people to live more presently in the in the in their moment with their coffee, but also to go after the dreams that they have and to savor life, right? One's the moment, one is life. And so, in order for me to set that up, it requires me to learn a lot of different skills. And um, you know, and I I wanted I wanted it yesterday, to be honest with you. But nevertheless, I don't put off living, I'm still taking trips. But the point I'm trying to make in telling you that is that it is not something that's gonna happen overnight. I really, really need to develop my my skill set in order to get there. Going back to the coffee, um, so there's one is being realistic with the amount of time it's gonna take, right? I could do the coffee, you know, and for that freedom lifestyle, it may take five years, it may take ten years. It could take longer than that, right? I'm getting ready to step out with my beverage. That's gonna definitely keep me here for a while. So it's be stupid to just get mad at myself and to beat myself up because I am not there yet, right? It would be unrealistic. Now let's talk about what the other things that you can't control, such as people with regard to the espresso. When I decided that uh I was going to make my espresso, that this was gonna be the year that I stepped out with my Italian espresso. I was like, who can I call? I said, I mean I took a massive action. I emailed all of my uh bunch of contacts that I had in Italy, and they were like, This, you know, they gave me like you gotta speak with this person, he's the number one. And so I I contacted that person, and they were like, no, no, no, it's not possible. There's there's no he doesn't have any room in a schedule. I was like, Well, I'm willing to wait, right? Like this was I had to be almost a year out, and I'm like, I'm willing to wait. And so I kept emailing, emailing, and I was getting so angry at their lack of response. I'm like, what kind of business are you running where you don't even respond? It takes you weeks to respond to an email. And you know, like I'm trying to pay you and I'm willing to pay a premium, right? And this person normally works with like the biggest of the Italian espresso companies, and here I am, you know, small guy, but it that is not the point. The point is like I'm still paying the premium, the same dollar amount that these giant companies would. And actually, I think I might have paid even more. But the point I was trying to make is that I kept following up and following up and following up, and yeah, I got freaking pissed, man. I was pissed. I got my change, had to change my tone in some of those emails because I'm like, dude, this is not a way to run your business. But then I realized that being uh Italian and having dealt with the uh some people in the industry, that it's kind of a theme that happens there, right? It's not gonna happen when I want to happen. It's when they're good and ready. It's happened with this person, it's happened with the equipment I've purchased. So I I learned that I had to accept that, but I tried to push as much as I can. And then there's an opening that came up. He had to be this this uh consultant had to be in Italy because his visa expired. So rather he's normally consulting all around the world, right? Very difficult to nail him down to one place. That's probably why it took so long. But now he had to be in his hometown. So that and so they emailed me and said, Listen, all right, we have two weeks in April, right? I was like, done, done. All right, two weeks in April. I will move my schedule, I'll do everything I can to make that work. And as a result, I went there, I learned some very, very key distinctions that will help me in my espresso. Came back home, roasted espresso, several of them. And am I where I want to be? I'm close, I'm pretty close, but there are some uh some learnings that I need to apply and I want to test out. And it's kind of been the whole process since I started roasting coffee was testing, testing, testing, testing, testing to see what works and develop my own style and then then stick with it. So now that I'm back, right? I I worked with this consultant, I'm back here, I'm making my espresso, and I'm like, well, this should I should have this by now. Like, why am I not why is it not here in its perfect form? That's gonna take time. Again, being realistic with it, right? I went from his machinery that I was roasting on to new machinery now that I'm roasting on. There's no freaking way I could possibly replicate them because they're two different machines, two completely different setups, right? There is, if you know coffee roasting, it's very intricate. Like the stack run, everything matters and every variable changes the roast. So I had to learn that I'm learning this new machine, but it didn't step stop me from taking action. As a result of that, I started just testing out, and I'm at a point now where I wouldn't sell the coffee if I didn't think it was good or if I wasn't happy with it. If I wasn't happy with it, I would have dumped it. I don't care how much coffee I would have wasted, how much it would have cost, I would have dumped it. But I put a product out there. I applied what I learned, I put a product out there, and it was good enough for me to be proud of. But I'm still working on improving that. Right. And again, going back to the realism is that it could I could develop that in next week when I go to roast, like when I test out this new uh this new methodology that I'm tweaking, it could happen next week, or it could take months or years from now. But I'm sticking with it. And I'll leave you with this last thing because if um if you looked at my life and you said, well, he seems to have discipline and he just keeps on going. Like, how does he how does he do it? I'll tell you, there's this one story that I had heard uh one of my coaches told me that stuck with me from the moment he told me that it literally stuck in my mind. And it was a story about um a person who, and I'm gonna paraphrase this, I'm gonna butcher it too, um, who had I get uh who is uh had a farm and he left his farm to look for diamonds. So he sold the farm, went out there, searched. The person who bought his farm ended up have finding diamonds on the farm. So the guy went out there and he was searching, searching, searching, only to realize that he had the diamonds right there, right in front of his nose. He had been digging on his property, but apparently he didn't dig far enough. So it's similar with your life. And I always made the the it I always thought about it. Well, you know, you could be so close. They said like uh two millimeters from your success, right? It only takes a little bit to get above and beyond, like the uh let me let me say it differently. You know, the results you want, you want extraordinary results, it's only like about a pinch more than what someone who is getting very good results is doing, right? Exemplary is literally only that little bit. And so it's the idea of not quitting right before the finish line. Because you don't know when the finish line is, right? It could be right in front of you, you could be right at that that about to step the toe over, and all of a sudden you quit and and then you lost it when you were right there. So that was one of the things that is always stuck in my mind, and as a result of that, even when it freaking sucks and it's hard, which it is most of the time, if I'm honest with you, I remember that and it keeps me moving forward. So think of something in your life, think of something maybe you're having extreme difficulty with now and just honor it, right? It it's not meant to be easy. You want something you don't have, it's not gonna be easy. But just honor it and push forward anyways. Touch upon things, make sure you have, you know, that you're you're being you have a clear vision, make sure that you're moving forward towards it in with some kind of action, doesn't matter how big or small, and then make sure you're being realistic with your expectations. So this way you don't stress yourself out before you even, you know, and and quit before you even start. So that is all I've got for you guys. I hope this helps you in all of your dreams because it applies to everything, right? It applies you want to you want to become a world traveler, you want to uh start your own business, you want to start your own family, but you're not even dating anyone yet. It applies to everything. So I hope this helps you just keep heart to keep on going. And I I hope that one day you will eventually get to whatever it is that you desire, so long as you are willing to work for it. And lastly, just to remember that life is happening now, to make sure that you savor that moment, get your cup of coffee in hand. I'm here with the cup in hand, and just remember that life is a gift, life is beautiful, and not to let the day go by because you're you're so busy in the pursuit that you're letting the beauty around you pass you by. So connect with that moment, do something that makes you truly happy, that brings a smile to your face, and push forward. Hope you enjoyed this episode here. If you did, please leave a comment, hit that subscribe button, share it with someone whom you feel is maybe beating themselves up because they're not there yet, and give this to them. Say, you know what, just sit relax a little bit, listen to this guy. He he's been with it for a while, he knows what he's talking about. And hopefully this will help them overcome whatever mental obstacle that they are facing. So that is all I've got for you guys today. Hope you enjoyed this episode here. If you did, please hit that subscribe button again. And remember, you'll only get one life live fully, live passionately, and most of all, live now. God bless you guys, and I will see you again soon.