For example, if you have “get a loan from my dad” on your list, cross it off. Your dad is not responsible for your success. This is your baby. What action can you take to get the money you need? Can you get an extra part-time job? Can you cut out some of the extra expenses in your life and save some cash?
This is not one of those jobs you can hire out. If you don’t like to clean, you can hire a maid (if you have the money). However, if you want to achieve success, there is no one you can call to do the dirty work. You have to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself. You can learn from others, but the effort must be all yours. Stop looking outside of yourself for the key to success. It lies within you.
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You will experience setbacks on the road to success, but always remember that they are only temporary. You are on this journey for the rest of your life. You must build a strong foundation using the tools of persistence and optimism, and you will succeed.
Think about how marathon runners train for a big race. They spend months conditioning. They start with a manageable distance and increase it little by little. Every step they take builds their self-esteem. They set milestones and celebrate each achievement. Their success with smaller goals propels them to increase their drive and push to the next level. Sometimes injuries set them back a day or two or even longer. They attend to them through rest and rehabilitation, and then they get back on track. They are optimistic that they can achieve their goal, and they have the persistence to keep working until they do.
Are persistence and optimism words that describe how you travel on your journey through life? Compare your life path to training for a marathon. First, acknowledge your setbacks and deal with them. Then, dig up some optimism that will start to build your self-esteem. You don’t have to lie to yourself. Find something that is true, even if it is not very exciting. For example, “I am healthy today” may provide you with a dose of optimism on which to build. Finally, never give up. You are not running a short race. This is a marathon, and you have the time and opportunity to build your self-esteem and reach success.
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For the next eight days, you are going to have a chance to take an in-depth look at success and failure and compare these two very powerful words. Let’s start with the upside and dive a little deeper into what success means to you.
Read the proverb above. Does it coincide with your idea of success? Have you ever thought about success as the progress you make throughout your life instead of the end result?
Write about success as a journey instead of a finish line. You have the opportunity to be a success every single day if you take even one small step forward rather than remaining complacent or regressing. There are so many opportunities for you to thrive and to help others along their journey. Are you taking advantage of any of those opportunities right now?
The second part of your assignment today is to write about the distance you’ve come thus far. How are you doing? Where did you start, and where are you now? Have you gone forward or backward, or has it been a combination of both? Grab some markers and draw a graph of your journey toward success so far. What does that graph look like? Does it have huge peaks and valleys, or is it a steady climb? Maybe it was a steady climb, and then a particular event in your life caused a drop-off. Chart your success and imagine how you would like it to look from today forward.
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Do you truly want to be a success? Then get moving! You will never achieve success by waiting for it complacently, like one waits for a bus or Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. You must go and seek out success.
Think of success as a crafty little wild animal. You catch glimpses of it here and there, but for the most part it remains elusive. It will never come right to you and curl up on your lap. You must look for it in remote hiding places
