What’s it Take to Succeed?

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.  ~Abraham Lincoln

Everyone wants to be successful; in life, in love, in business. Yet, we spend a ridiculous amount of time feeling like failures! We make up cute ditties like ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try try again’!

We want success to come to us in a straight line. I did A, B C, and D and that should equal SUCCESS! Instead we find that A, B C, and D equals a try again or a give up.

Success doesn’t come in a straight line! Success looks like this graphic (which one of our Facebook friends shared and I can no longer find the original posting).

Success is a commitment to the journey. Success is taking all the things that go wrong, and all the obstacles and crazy twists and turns and staying the course. Success is a tenacious desire to figure out what has gone wrong. Success is turning a deaf ear to those who would attempt to defeat or deflate you.  Because there will always be things that make you want to run and people who will tell you that you are wrong; but you have to put your faith on the table. You really have to stand against all odds. It takes courage. And when you do this, you will succeed.

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,  ineffectiveness concerning all acts of initiative (and creation). There is one elemental truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans— that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves all. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issue from the decision, Raising in one’s favor all manner of incidents and meetings and material assistance which no one could have dreamed would come his or her way.

Whatever you can do or dream, you can begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
Begin it now.

~ Goethe (1749-1832), German poet and dramatist