Have you ever tried to accomplish something, but given up before your plan or actions have come to fruition? Maybe you’re just trying to organize a huge stack of paperwork, or perhaps you’re trying to build up your database of leads or increase your sales by a certain percentage within a certain amount of time.
Of course, you feel a degree of frustration if you don’t achieve the results you were hoping for. Frustration points you in one of two directions: either you’ll be defeated, or you’ll be pushed to try even harder to succeed. The surest way to guarantee failure is to quit before you’ve given enough time or effort to get the job done.
Also consider by whose standards you are measuring your success. Are you trying to live up to someone else’s unreasonable expectations or goals? Then it might be time to approach that boss or spouse or instructor and let them know that your progress is guaranteed, but perhaps not on the established schedule. Bill Cosby once said, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”
Chances are that whatever goals you’ve set for yourself, you can achieve them, but setting reasonable goals in the first place will go a long way toward success. Maybe you should “pull in your horse” BEFORE he leaps if you feel he’s not going to make it over the hurdle. Also remember that it’s your effort to achieve that is ultimately the most important part of that success (kind of like the old adage about the journey vs. the destination).
Don’t forget the words of Lloyd Jones, who said, “The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed.”
Success can be a relative term and depends upon the perspective of yourself and others. Do whatever you can to accomplish your goals or the goals that others set before you, but regardless of the outcome, you should ultimately be satisfied with the work you’ve done.
