 Road
Trip: Directions for Driving to Success
Subject: Success,
Motivation, Overcoming Failure, Adversity, Planning
Fear of success is as powerful if not more, than the fear of failure. When we
fear either one, our subconscious mind works to prevent what we fear.
People fear success because of low self-esteem. They don’t truly believe they
deserve success. People have a fear of failure because they don’t want anyone
else to find out they don’t deserve success. In either case, the logic is
faulty.
If you feel you don’t deserve success, well, you’re right. If you feel success
is within you’re reach, well, you’re right. What you think and how you act,
determine who you will be.
To deserve success is to think that there are some people who are entitle to it
and other who are not. Wrong! Success, as Earl Nightingale once said, plays no
favorites. Success is color-blind, gender-blind, agnostic and/or indifferent to
the individual. Success only favors those who take the chances and never give
up.
When you drive to a new location and get lost, we are thankful for traffic signs
that tell us: “One Way, Wrong Way, Slow Down, Passing Zone and so on. These
signs are there to keep us safe and guide and deliver us to our destination.
Failure is just another traffic sign indicating what it will take to reach your
goal or destination.
For example, selling services or products requires a certain skill set and in
order to succeed you have to learn that “One Way”. When a plan fails, maybe you
need to ‘Slow Down’ and observe what the market needs or what your competitors
are doing. Or if we have a lot of competition maybe we should enter a “NO PASS
ZONE” and concentrate on business our competitors are passing up. If you’ve lost
your way in business or life, failure tells you “Wrong Way” and you need
turnaround and find a better way. When we lose our way, it’s
typically because we’ve not done the following:
1) Clearly define our
destination (goal) and our purpose (why are we going there)
2) What do we need to make the trip successful (products or services)
3) Create a map on how to get
there (strategy, business plan)
4) Maps can change over time;
constantly ask for directions along the way (find role models in similar
business who can guide you) to make sure you still moving in the right direction
5) If you still get lost, don’t
be afraid to ask for directions (i.e., help)
6) Last tip, make sure you have
enough gas (money) for the trip
As individuals we don’t fear
planning a trip. We don’t even fear the ‘not knowing’ what to expect. We simply
plan to the best of our ability and hope that when we get there it’s everything
we imagined it would be.
And do things always work out the way we ‘planned’ them? Of course not! Life and
business planning are no different. Sometimes no matter how much pre-planning
was done, the trip turned out to be a dud. Then there are other times when
little went into the planning and the trip turned out better than planned. In
either case, you never know until you try it. The former needed more planning;
the latter was laden with luck. I’d rather plan instead of depending on luck.
If we were all afraid of bad trips or vacations, we’d never leave the house. In
life, if we want new experiences and adventures, we have to leave our house and
its security and venture out into unfamiliar (and somewhat scary) territory. But
that’s what makes life exciting and worth living. Never fear doing, fear not
doing and regretting it.
Lastly, failing does not mean you have to surrender your driver’s license. It
simply means you need better directions in order to get to your intended
destination.
Please forward this
article; share it with a friend who may need a few words of inspiration.
Victor Gonzalez, a top motivational speaker and author of “The LOGIC of Success”. For more info go
to:
www.thelogicofsuccess.com or by email
victor@thelogicofsuccess.com
Success Happens for a Reason
Copyright © 2004 by Victor
Gonzalez All rights reserved. This article MAY be reproduced in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long
as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the
article’s body. All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing,
should be directed to Victor Gonzalez, victor@thelogicofsuccess.com.
www.thelogicofsuccess.com
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