“Many of life’s failures are people who did not
realize how close they were to success when they gave up” – Thomas Edison
There’s
a difference between wanting something and being committed to something.
Whether it’s an intimate relationship, project or a career path, the testament
to your commitment arises when things are not going the way you hoped. At that
point, you have a choice: 1. You commit to
uncovering what’s missing such that
once you understand what’s missing you implement it and continue to progress.
2. You default to the ‘it wasn’t meant to be’ line and give up.
In
life, nothing was meant to be. The only things that happen successfully are the
things to which you are highly committed. The only thing that empowers you to
make it happen is the choice to tell yourself you will make it happen. If you
don’t do that, nothing happens. And your desire would have been just something
you wanted for the moment, like a hope or dream. With that said, success and
failure is a choice. If you need evidence listen to the conversations you have
with yourself and others about what you want to have and what you are committed
to make happen. The language between ‘I want’ and ‘I am committed’ is very
distinguishable.
Of the many failures in the world, one stands out in my mind. There is a story of
a man who drilled for oil. After several months of not finding oil, he gave up
and sold the well. The person who bought it drilled 12 inches further and
struck oil. Apparent failure is not always what it appears to be.
In
most cases, when we give up, we are listening to voices in our head telling us
that we are wasting our time. If we listen to those voices closely, we will
find the voice is not our own. It is the voice of someone who tried to convince
us that we were not worthy of our greatest ambitions. When that is the case,
difficult situations become the ideal time to replace those voices with words
of our own. Since it is your life, you get to choose what voices play in your
head.
Next
time you find yourself in an insurmountable situation use it as an opportunity
to reprogram the thoughts that play in your mind. Instead of focusing on what
is wrong, begin focusing on what you would like to see happen. Furthermore, get
clear about what is missing between where you are and where you would like to
be. Whether skills and competencies are missing or resources, it is your job to
fill the gap of what’s missing. Once you develop the ability to discover what’s
missing in the gap and fill it, you will find you are a formidable opponent to
life’s challenges.
What do you think? I’m
open to ideas. Or if you want to write me about a specific topic, let me know.
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