Tag: success

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motivation

Do You Wish to Rise?

Quote by Saint Augustine: Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.

Today, November 13, is the birthday of Augustine of Hippo. As best as we can tell, he was born 1667 years ago today. I admire his devotion and his habit of writing copiously. But one of his quotes has me reflective today.

“Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.”

Saint Augustine of Hippo

Humility isn’t something we typically associate with leaders. After all, doesn’t it take a big man or woman to get anything done? Shouldn’t the spoils go to the victor? And isn’t the victor someone with a lot of chutzpah, ego, and audaciousness?

Yet we have seen many victors that have been brought down by hubris. If there isn’t a foundation of humility when a leader faces trouble, the foundation crumbles. A foundation of humility is crucial for sustained success.

Humility allows you to

  • Be willing to learn and change before success turns to decline
  • Lend a helping hand
    • You never know who may return the favor
    • It reminds you of what is truly important
    • Goodwill is the best public relations
  • Consider alternatives to “the way we’ve always done it”
  • Take criticism in a positive way
  • Listen when the temptation is to defend and attack
  • Allow others to come aside as co-leaders and team members
  • Keeps a temper from exploding and causing collateral damage

A foundation of humility pays big dividends. It is so hard to practice when success comes. Yet, it is better to humble yourself than have others do it for you.

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motivation

The Successful Fail

scientist working in laboratory
Photo by Chokniti Khongchum on Pexels.com

Yes, successful people fail. Not many people want to acknowledge that, including this author. It’s uncomfortable. Successful people are willing to work at mastery, even if it is ever elusive. It’s not that the successful never fail, it’s that they know how to keep going when failures and setbacks take down other people.

I was reminded of this when I read the Inc.com article, Mastery: What it Takes to Be on Top by Tanya Prive. The article says success takes mastery. And to master something takes these three requirements:

  • It’s not about the destination, it’s about the process
  • Get comfortable with being uncomfortable
  • Be willing to fail forward

Do the Successful Fail?

Trying something and failing isn’t easy. In 2015, my wife and I took a risk that ended up hurting us emotionally and financially. I said then that I had no regrets, and that holds true today. That risk has made us stronger and caused us to depend on our faith and each other. We are better people for it.

What we have learned from the event is crucial to our next steps. Does the setback make us want to never try to make a move again, or do we learn from it and try something different the next time? In effect, do we learn from the experiment or just quit?

Across the world, scientists and medical professionals are developing a vaccine for COVID-19. There have been many failures, I’m sure. But I am thankful for the lab technicians that are discovering what doesn’t work and then experimenting to find what will work. It takes persistence and a willingness to fail in order to eventually be successful.

We wouldn’t want these professionals to give up before they find a cure. Nor should we give up if we have a calling or ambition that fires us up. If you haven’t reached mastery yet, if success has been elusive for you, keep learning from your past mistakes and failures. You never know what good it may do for you and others in the future.

scientist working in laboratory
Photo by Chokniti Khongchum on Pexels.com
Categories
motivation

Why It’s So Important to Count Our Blessings

Quote: "The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." Eric Hoffer
www.brainyquote.com/s/a_19c26

It’s been such a challenge lately to count our blessings. Then again, when is it not a challenge? There is something within all of us that longs for something more, even when we are richly blessed.

John D. Rockefeller was one of the richest men of his time. When someone asked him, “How much money is enough?” he replied, “Just a little bit more.” As the reference states, he was also quite a philanthropist and a person of faith. Still, few people have ever reached the level of success and wealth he possessed. Yet, he was tempted to keep pursuing more.

We can be so busy pursuing wealth and success that we forget to be thankful for what we have. When that dissatisfaction affects our mood and actions, it can actually backfire. We may be tempted to pursue get-rick-quick schemes. We may decide to cut corners or cheat when we feel we must do what it takes to get a little more.

Counting our blessings is a remedy for that. It reminds us of what we already have. Yet, today’s quote states, it can be the hardest arithmetic to master.

Here are some reasons to count our blessings

  • It reminds us that there are some things to be thankful for that we didn’t earn
  • We are reminded to thank the people in our lives that have made a positive difference in us
  • It can lift our mood when we are going through a hard time
  • Counting our blessings reminds us to take care of what we already have instead of pursuing something that may cause us to neglect loved ones and things dear to us
  • It can actually motivate us to keep pursuing excellence
  • Gratitude leads to generosity and generosity leads to abundance to the people you are helping and yourself

Counting our blessings will not cause us to become complacent and stop excelling. On the contrary, gratitude opens us up for more blessings. No matter where you are, take some time to be grateful today.

www.brainyquote.com/s/a_19c26
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motivation

Do training and preparing get any easier?

Quote from "Drive" by Daniel Pink "As anyone who’s trained for a marathon, learned a new language, or run a successful division can attest, you spend a lot more time grinding through tough tasks than you do basking in applause."

When I was reading Drive by Daniel Pink, I thought of how society tries to make things easy for us. Advertising is all about serving up an easy answer to wants or needs. I posted about the desire we all have to coast in October 2019. I found then that training doesn’t get any easier, but the results are worth it.

Training doesn’t get any easier. But if we are diligent, we can get more effective. Finding success in an endeavor may seem easy from the outside. But it’s the grind, as Daniel Pink wrote, that one has to do every day. It’s getting up early and putting in the miles.

Be patient and train

When I trained for a marathon, I searched for different solutions and different training methods. If there was a solution that would have made it easy to run a marathon without any training, I probably would have stumbled across it. If such a solution existed, I would have been both happy and disappointed. I would have been happy that I would not have had to put in the hours. But I would have been disappointed that the effort was taken away from me. What is the point of a marathon, after all, if it takes little sweat and effort?

Today, all of us have been thrust into a COVID-19 marathon. All of us wish that this crisis would end tomorrow. But it doesn’t look likely. All businesses and employees will have to adjust in some way. Like it or not, we are now all required to train for the next level.

Patience does not mean we simply wait this out. If I just waited for the day of the marathon without training for it, I would have never crossed the finish line. While we wait, we must train. We must prepare.

Turn a crisis into an opportunity

Since we have all been sidelined in some way, how are you using that time to train?

  • How are you training physically?
  • How are you training mentally?
  • How are you training spiritually?

We all have an opportunity to do the work and to make a difference today. Grind through the tasks. Learn from them and become better through them. Training doesn’t get any easier. But the results are worth it. You may not hear a stadium full of applause. But it will be worth it in the long run.

Categories
motivation

Know Your Audience

Cartoon of two women. One looks disappointed. The other says, "It was a good try. But maybe the neighborhood kids just aren't interested in an all-you-can-eat tuna casserole event."
Originally published in "Kidzmatter Magazine"

Some things should be obvious. No matter how funny they are, it’s hard to get today’s teens to watch a Laurel and Hardy movie. Most men will not be attracted to binge-watching The Gilmore Girls And you won’t attract many senior citizens with a Justin Bieber concert. Sure, there are always outliers that are the exception, but you can’t bank on an entire retirement community getting Bieber Fever.

It’s important to know your audience. At the same time, you have to be true to yourself because the biggest audience is the audience of one: yourself. If you found an audience but you hate doing what attracted them in the first place, it won’t last long. To achieve any kind of success, you must be true to yourself.

That’s why I feel for the lady in my cartoon. She must love her tuna casserole, and she probably excels at making it. But if she is trying to do something nice for the neighborhood kids, she needs to find another way.

When you find that happy balance between what you like and what your desired audience likes, that’s the sweet spot. I’m still working on it. Heaven knows I sometimes wonder if my writing and cartooning style hits the mark. Perhaps I’m still looking for that key audience for me. It’s a continual process.

How have you balanced what you like doing with finding the right audience for you?

Cartoon of two women. One looks disappointed. The other says, "It was a good try. But maybe the neighborhood kids just aren't interested in an all-you-can-eat tuna casserole event."
Originally published in “Kidzmatter Magazine”