In hundreds of presentations across North America, I have made an assertion that many would challenge, but I stand by it today as strongly as the first day I made it: no one in the history of human events has ever failed.
It's not hard to read that statement and think that I'm either a naive fool or just not very bright:) While the latter may be true, if you allow me to clarify the statement, I think it will make perfect sense. I don't believe that anyone in the history of human events has ever failed. Those who didn't succeed just gave up, before the realized their goals.
The principal here is two fold. Firstly, it is rare that if you are truly willing to work at something until it happens that it won't eventually take shape. Most of us don't give our goals and dreams nearly enough effort. We set a goal, we "work" at it a few times and when it doesn't materialize, we give up or move on to something else. People will often say to me that they would love to write a book but could never do it. We yes you can. You just write and write and write until you have enough material for a book. In truth, the editing is the hardest part! People will often say the same thing to me about running a marathon, "Oh, I could never do that". My response is always, the same: "Yes you can, you just put one foot in front of the other until you get to the end."
The second part of the principal, applies those who say, "but Mark, sometimes people just fail." Again my assertion is that is impossible if you don't give up because if you refuse to give up you have already achieved a level of success. You have done what most people never do, pursue their goals with passion and dedication. That is success in itself.
So this week I challenge you to persevere. When things are looking bad, when you feel tired and aren't sure you can keep going, when it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, just keep going. It is always darkest before the dawn. The highest mountains are preceded by the deepest valleys. If you hang in there, you will meet with success. If people knew how close they were to succeeding when they gave up, they wouldn't. Press on. And to my fellow Maritimers, the snow will melt, summer will come. As you shovel yet again tomorrow, remember, before you know it, we'll be on the beach again!
2 comments:
I beg to differ. Winners know when to quit. Sometimes a goal you set out for yourself just isn't feasible and being mature enough to realize this is a true key to success. Sometimes you have to step back, reevaluate, change direction, and set a new goal. Pig-headedly pursuing something you are never going to achieve is futile. Some of my best career decisions have been when I "quit" one path and hopped on another. Not everyone can achieve everything. Real people have limitations. As someone at the top of my profession, I know this to be true.
Heather,
Thank you for your comments. I'm glad that you had a strong reaction to the article. It's meant to engage debate as I said. I think if you read the whole article you'll see that I address exactly what you're talking about. I don't mean that you need to "bang your head against a wall" futilely when you realize a goal isn't to be. What I mean, and what I wrote, is that in not giving up, you succeed. Not giving up doesn't mean continuing on the same course endlessly when there is no hope of success. It means if you run into a dead end, you find another path and keep going.
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