PART 6
Confront failure and setbacks with the understanding that failure is always part of success. Everybody experiences failure; the secret that differentiates a “wanna be” from an achiever is to shamelessly learn from failure, accept it as part of the process of success and get back on that proverbial horse. Success punctuated by occasional setbacks is a more fulfilling life than an unused and untested life.
George Bernard Shaw says “Far better is it to dare to do great things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, rather than join the ranks of those poor miserable souls who neither suffer much nor enjoy much, for they live in gray dim twilight that neither knows victory nor defeat.”
When you are willing to commit to the process of identifying what you want and developing supporting goals and plans, wonderful things begin to happen. Goethe provides this insight on the power of commitment:
- Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.
We need to understand the hierarchy of our desires. It is necessary to plan lesser tasks around what you consider most meaningful and vital to your existence and spirit. If you first fill your existence with the small and less important tasks you won’t have time and energy for the large tasks that are most important to you. The irony is that if you devote proper energy to your large life affirming desires it will free energy to do all the rest that needs to be done. If you reverse the process, energy will be lacking to tackle what’s really important to you.
Every morning I refocus by connecting with my large goals (writing and healthy living) and ask myself two questions:
- What is the single most important thing I need to do to keep myself on the path that will lead to the realization of my dreams?
- What is the one thing I can do today to further my dreams?
It’s so important to start the day off on the right foot. If I get a good start the momentum carries through the day. If I get a bad start, I have a tendency to waste the day.
I’ve found a couple of tricks to help me focus on my writing and hit the ground running (start the morning writing rather than choosing from a myriad of ways to procrastinate). I organize my work space the night before ((sharpen pencils, eliminate all clutter (book and papers, notes etc. that litter my work space) and put a unused legal size pad of yellow paper on my desk)). In the morning I’m greeted with a work space that invites writing rather than procrastination. I try to be the first one up and get the day started properly before Kathy arises. I keep a little “to do” book nearby and whenever something that needs to be done enters my consciousness, I write it down. Once noted and acknowledged it no longer distracts me from writing. I can review the entries at a later time. As Goethe said “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”
(to be continued)
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