When All Else Fails
October 11th, 2006 by 
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Loading ...If you are a reader of success and motivation books, you may be tempted to think that success is easy - in fact everybody nowadays are looking for easy solutions - and the easier the formula, the more we want to buy the solution, and the better we feel. At least we are not wasting our lives — but trying to make a success out of something, or so we tell ourselves.
I used to joke that I have been dieting for 25 years — without success. I have always been weight challenged, but I give myself a comforting thought that I do read diet books, and I ocassionally exercise and starve myself — if only to convince myself that I really am not a hopeless case. That is probably how many people view also their challenge in business and in other personal endeavors.
But success, true success is not easy - and will demand hard work. And if your goal is high enough, you would probably meet some challenges, and failure on the way. What determines whether you are really made of good material is what you do when things fail — do you persist? Do you stay the course, or maintain your focus with bulldog tenacity. In short, when things do not go as you optimistically plan, it is really your most challenging moment, and sometimes the enduring success is build up only if you know how to stay the course.
October 12th, 2006 at 6:07 am
There’s an old but true saying that goes something like “If at first you don’t succeed, try again.” I think you’re dead right when you say that was separate the people with the potential to be a success from the rest is whether they choose to try again.
As an interesting example, I dabbled for a year in online commerce - attracted to it, I’m afraid to say, by the promise of instant gratification. “Register a domain and resell it for more a few days later” - I thought - “How hard can it be?” Fast forward one year, and here I am, having earnt a whooping a net profit of $80 off domaining. I used to think that I had simply wasted a year of my life doing something that had no purpose and no money. But several days ago, I realised that I could, for example, put my online industry experience to another use, such as running my own e-commerce blog. What I learnt from that is that even a failure - no matter how dismal - gives you experience. Experience that you can put to a good use days, years, months later.
Do I know that I will be successful this time around? Of course not. Do I think that even if I fail, I will have learnt something from that failure, too? You bet.
Cheers for an excellent observation,
George
http://e-commercenews.blogspot.com
October 12th, 2006 at 11:07 am
Success books/Self-help: Guilty.
Looked for easy way to success: Guilty.
Still on the look-out for the quick path: No, but am looking for smarter ways like learning from you =)
I agree that there is no quick/easy path to success. For me, real success involves both the journey and the destination. At times, your goals change because of circumstance but the lessons you learn going there will stay with you.
Persistence is a key to success.. And life. Some people stop at the first sign of trouble, not knowing that beyond the bend is their pot of gold. As Edison did with his thousand-plus-failed-filament experiments, so should we in our endeavors.