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Succeeding Through Success
Recently I had the opportunity to speak to several business entrepreneurs. My goal, as is my goal every time I teach, was to challenge them. The topic that day was succeeding through failure. I asked questions like: raise your hand if you are a failure and raise you hand if you have ever failed. I explained that the real question is not “whether” you will fail, but “when” you will fail and then how you can grow in the process. We looked at several aspects of succeeding through failure. I even shared with them what it takes to overcome through failure. I shared a quote from Michael Jordan, “I’ve missed over 9000 shots in my career, I’ve lost over 300 games, 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed, I’ve failed over and over again in my life – and this is why I succeed.” However, after I taught this lesson I began to think about succeeding and being a success. The more I thought about it the more I realized that it is often harder to succeed after a success than it is after a failure. Thus, the topic of this Footprints and Monuments. Before we get into this, let me give you a definition for success; something to base your thinking on as you read the rest of this article. Booker T. Washington stated that success is, “Doing the common things uncommonly well.” This definition does not necessarily have to do with living in a five bedroom house, driving a very expensive automobile, wearing $6,000 suits, or having a membership at a very exclusive country club; but it might. Just ask Michael Jordan, or any other winning sports star, and he will tell you that it is extremely hard to repeat success. Thirty-four years ago the Miami Dolphins set a new NFL record. What did they do? They had a perfect season, winning every game. They not only had playing football figured out, but obviously every one of their opponents. The Dolphins’ offense instinctively new what the other team’s defense was planning, and the Dolphin defense was equally prepared. The next season (1973), the Dolphins had a good year (12-2) but what happened? In fact, in the following seasons the team began to lose more games until in 1976 they lost more games than they won (6-8). What went wrong in just five seasons??? Succeeding after success is very difficult. A success today will not guarantee a success tomorrow. To prove a well-known theory wrong, “Doing the same thing over and over will not always accomplish the same thing.” Being successful seems to cause our human minds to become complacent. In other words, we get comfortable and tell ourselves to just do what we did before. However, failure causes pain in that same human mind. That pain causes us to dig down deep and work harder, smarter, and look for ways to succeed like never before. So, how do we string several successes together so we don’t have to feel the pain of failure? After many years of researching this and going through many failures myself I have a few tips. 1. Forget the past. Don’t get me wrong, you need to celebrate your successes; and learn from both successes and failures. This celebration causes incredible feelings in your brain, feelings that your brain will begin to crave. However, the past is a canceled check. It is over. My friend Pat Williams (former executive with the Philadelphia 76ers) once wrote that he found himself starting a new season staring at his recently won NBA championship ring. Then he realized that that season was over, and if the team was going to be successful they would all need to forget the past and work hard to achieve the future that they wanted; another championship. 2. Never be satisfied with the status quo. Let’s be honest, when we win at something, a game of checkers, a hotdog eating contest, or beating your spouse home in your unofficial Daytona 500, you have a feeling of satisfaction. We love this feeling, but this feeling will cause us to begin to accept the status quo. And, as the 1972 Miami Dolphins team members will tell you, that feeling will not drive you to succeed in the future. 3. Stick-to-it. This has to do with passion. Passion is what gets you out of bed in the morning. It is what gets you on that treadmill when everyone else you know is still in bed, it is what keeps you up at night working in your office, and it is what brings you home to your family. In order to repeat success you must have a stick-to-it passion. You can’t give up, you can succeed, and you can win! 4. Plan your future. This has to do with your goals, dreams and focus. I recently had a good example of this happen to me. For the first time in my life I went to a batting cage with a friend of mine. Remember, it was my first time. I put on the batting helmet, grabbed a bat, and stepped into the cage to hit some baseballs. My friend pushed the button and the war was on. All I knew was this machine would be throwing baseballs at me, at a speed that I normally drive my car. The first ball came out and “smack”, it hit the fence just behind the make-shift home plate. The second ball did the same thing. I hadn’t even moved my bat and I had two strikes on me. Then my friend told me to watch (focus) the mechanical arm that was throwing the balls. The ball came out and I hit it. Ah, I have this figured out now. After a few more pitches I got bored with just hitting balls. I told my friend, which he quickly bet me lunch that I couldn’t do, that I was going to hit a ball back through the small hole (goal setting) where the balls were coming from. Not only did I enjoy a free lunch but I realized that I no longer focused on hitting the ball, but focused on where I wanted the ball to go. I was so focused and desired (dream) to hit that baseball back through the hole where it came from that I soon found success. 5. Play your game. In order to continue succeeding you must play your game. If your skill level is a five, then don’t try to live your life succeeding at an eight skill level. You will probably not reach the skill level of a Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Mary Kay, or Omar Periu over night. In fact, I would be willing to bet that you won’t. Furthermore, if you try to play your game at their skill level you will get discouraged and you will find yourself making excuses as to why you are not succeeding. Play your game, at your skill level, and you will continually improve. Improvement will result in success, success that will result into you accomplishing your greatest dreams. Footprints and Monuments is brought to you by www.jeffearlywine.com. It is a free monthly leadership and motivational e-newsletter. No names receiving this e-newsletter are sold or distributed to any other source. You are encouraged to forward this monthly article to anyone in your address book. To un-subscribe please reply back with “Un-subscribe” in the subject field. For more resources, personal coaching, and downloadable MP3s be sure and check out www.jeffearlywine.com today.
This article was posted on August 25, 2006 |
Disclaimer: The information presented and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors
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