You've got to get up to go.

A simple title, yet a super powerful message. After all, in order to get where you want to go in life, you first have to get up. But then, even after you have decided to get up, you still have to "go" if you ever expect to get there. Far too often we find that the proverbial get up and go has got up and left way too many people in this country.

Time and time again, the primary reason the would-be winners never make it to the top is because they do not get up, get going and keep going until they get there. Rather than give it their all, these under achieving individuals routinely take the apparently easy way out by throwing in the towel way too early in the game. I say the apparently easy way out because quitting is rarely the easy way out and is never the winning way out of anything.

Quitting is usually accompanied by one of its favorite old companions – the excuse. Would-be winners seem to work overtime finding one excuse after another why something cannot be done, when in reality it would be a lot easier to just go ahead and do it instead. Quitting, in and of itself, is a relatively easy task. Quitting requires no commitment, no personal responsibility and no accountability. In fact, the act of quitting requires nothing at all.

It should also be duly noted that the act of quitting produces nothing as well. Without exception, at one time or another we have all been tempted to quit. It is easy to run up the white flag and surrender when times get tough and the going gets rough. When the temptation to quit begins creeping in, that is the precise moment in which the players are separated from the pretenders. The players keep plugging away while the pretenders pack it in.

Why is this the case? What success secret do winners possess that the would-be winners lack? Would it be that the highly successful people are smarter than the rest of the crowd? No, that’s not it. In fact, winners are generally no smarter than those who fail to win.

Could it be that the winners work that much harder than the rest of the pack? No again. Surprisingly, winners on average do not work as many hours as many unsuccessful people do.

Then perhaps the winners are luckier than everyone else? No once more. Contrary to popular belief, success is very rarely the result of luck or happenstance.

So what is it that separates the winners from everyone else? To make it short and sweet, winners get up and go while the would-be winners get lost.

Every day, day after day, winners keep working their plan. They firmly believe in their abilities to overcome any obstacle placed in their paths and as a result, ultimately triumph over any adversity they encounter. The real winners in life get up and go and keep going until they complete the job. Not surprisingly, the real winners produce real results.

How about you? Are you ready to get up and go? And if you're not ready right now, then when will you be? Come on, if it's going to get done, you're the one to do it and you need to do it right now! It's time to get up off your rear end and get going -- and keep going -- until you get the job done.

The Bottom Line: When it’s time to get up and go, make sure you get up and get going.