Success Is Not Final.
Failure Is Not Fatal.
Successful people don’t stop at success. They continue planning, creating, developing, refining and ultimately implementing more success. Success is NOT final.
It would be silly to think our work is done after we succeed at anything. It’s just as silly and absurd to think that we can continue our pattern of success by doing the same things tomorrow that we did yesterday. A wonderful Albert Einstein quote is, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results…”
Continuing to succeed over and over again requires a number of behaviors such as:
- Attitude
Don’t rest on your laurels. Continue the same positivism that you had with your most recent success. As thought leader Zig Ziglar wrote, “It’s your attitude… not your aptitude… that defines your altitude.
- Fortitude
Fortitude is having courage through pain, suffering, setbacks, glitches and failure. In order to succeed time after time after time, one must have fortitude
and rise above the challenges. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Patience and fortitude conquer all things.”
- A Plan
Without a plan, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to define what specific steps are necessary for you to achieve your next desired outcome. A plan done with a great deal of logic and thought helps you identify your priorities… helps you define a timeline… and most importantly, helps you allocate resources properly for your next success.
- Commitment
Another important ingredient for your next success is “commitment.” It is vital and a compelling imperative for professional success. It’s not about talking and saying you will do something. It’s ALL about taking responsibility (again) and giving every effort your “all.”
Dr. Jonas Salk (inventor of the polio vaccine) said, “If you make the unconditional commitment to reach your most important goals, you will find the way and the power to achieve them.”
- Innovation
Especially when you’re seeking your “next success,” innovation is vital. After all, innovation solves business problems and challenges. Innovation invariably increases productivity. Innovation brings a fresh approach, uniqueness and originality to a product, program or process. Finally, innovation is typically viewed as leadership.
No, success is surely not final. Each success should build on the next success… and the next success thereafter.
Let’s discuss “Failure Is Not Final…” the second part of this column’s header.
Consider that Albert Einstein wasn’t able to speak until he was almost 4 years old, and his teachers said “…he would never amount to much.” He failed many of his early tests and classes but worked diligently to improve and eventually, as we all know only too well, the name “Albert Einstein” has become synonymous with the word “genius.” Globally known as one of the greatest, brightest physicists of all time, he is the father of “The Theory of Relativity” and quantum mechanics. He attributes his “comeback” from early failures to his childlike sense of wonder and curiosity… much to the dismay of his early teachers. Yes, “Failure Is Not Final.”
After being “cut” from his high school basketball team, Michael Jordan certainly didn’t ascribe to the “failure is final” myth. He was disappointed. He was discouraged. He was angry. He took that disappointment and converted it into action. He would work out on his home driveway dribbling and shooting for hours determined to improve… determined, if not obsessed, to raise the bar on his game so he would make the high school team at the next try-out. “Failure Is Not Final.” As we all know, Michael became one of… if not “the”… greatest basketball players the game has ever known.
Oprah Winfrey pursued a career in television and eventually rose to the position of a local TV news anchor. Her ratings were very poor. In a performance review, her supervisors told her she “was absolutely, positively NOT fit for television and should find another career.” With ratings from her show being embarrassingly low, she told “People Magazine” that she had reached her “breaking point” but wasn’t quitting. She worked diligently to improve… to make changes… and the rest is history. Oprah became a global success story and fixture on network television. Again, “Failure Is Not Final.”
History books are filled with stories that support the phrase “Failure Is Not Final.” However, it is, in fact, “final” if one lets the failure consume commitment to rebuild, recommit, reinvent and resume efforts.
Winston Churchill said, “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm and staying poised for eventual success.”
Augusta Press columnist Ira Blumenthal is a business consultant, best-selling author, speaker, educator and youth Lacrosse coach. Learn more about Ira and his latest book, Your Best Is Next, at www.IraSpeak.com. Follow Ira on instagram @irajblumenthal.
