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Your Success Thought for the Week of April 15, 2009
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This week's Success Thought is a gift of Dr. Brad A. Ward, Neurosurgeon at The Center
We all try to do our best in
most of what we do, but how often do we actually strive for perfection?
The latter takes much more time and effort than the former, and
exposes us more to failure and disappointment.
We see perfection in many aspects of our lives: nature, music,
literature, and sports to name a few.
But how does one reach perfection, or near perfection? I think
several characteristics lead to this end result.
Have a Dream - Most people have dreams about what they want for
their future, but the people who are remembered seem to have more focused goals
and act upon them. Steve Jobs,
co-founder of Apple, and Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft had dreams of
owning their own computer companies and relentlessly pursued them. Sometimes
what we strive for isn't what the end result turns out to be. Many actors and actresses start their careers
in other entertainment industries only to later end up as movie stars. Michael Jordan's dream when he was young
started very simply: to make varsity at the high school team he was cut from
the year before. He obviously went a
little further in his basketball career.
Practice, Practice, Practice - In all pursuits, those who reach perfection have a
combination of enormous talent coupled with a huge work ethic. Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest golfer of
all time, practices more than any of his competitors. Eddie Van Halen, regarded as the greatest
guitarist ever, has spent his entire career expending hour upon hour playing
his guitar alone. One of his favorite
places to hole up: his bathroom. With
practice goes preparing for big events, such as a competition or a big
presentation. Successful people have
great confidence, because they know they are fully prepared and expect to succeed.
Be Creative - Many have succeeded by simply looking at things differently than anyone
else. They have stepped out of the
proverbial box and approached their craft from a completely different point of
view. One of Tiger Woods' greatest
attributes is to create shots no one else has thought about doing, or attacking
a course in almost unorthodox ways. A
few years ago, he won the British Open without ever using his driver, unheard
of in these matches. Van Halen developed
a style of playing called "tapping," using both hands on the neck of the
guitar, producing one of his distinctive sounds. As a side note, in his early shows with Van
Halen, Eddie would use this tapping technique with his back to the audience to
prevent people from stealing his style.
Love What You Do - To spend the hours and hours you must with practice and preparation, it
really helps to enjoy what you are doing, or at least parts of it. There has to be some form of pleasure derived
from the path and not just the destination to make it worthwhile. Van
Halen, Jordan,
and Woods all profess an undying love and passion for what they do.
Be Prepared For Failure - one of the hardest lessons for anyone to learn is
that we will always fail to some degree in everything we do. The trick is what we do with this failure. The
book "The Adversity Quotient" claims that what we do with failure separates the
winners from the losers. Jordan has a
famous quote, made into a commercial: "I have
missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26
occasions, I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot... and missed.
And I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I
succeed."
More than likely, none of us
will go on to the perfection in the world of golf, basketball, or rock music,
but what in your world is attainable?
Could that new business you dream of be your perfection? Or, is it that
presentation you have to give to your board in a few months? How about that weekend with your spouse you
have thought about surprising him or her with?
So many aspects of our life are available to reach this perfection, but
distractions can sometimes hold us back.
Even if we don't reach what we consider to be perfection, there are
certain byproducts of this pursuit. As
William Fowble said,
"If you chase perfection, you
often catch excellence."
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Enjoy your discoveries and
have a grand week.
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Ann
To see more of my
published articles, go to:GV&A, Coaching for Success and then click on Writing and Wisdom across the top.
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P. S. We'd love to hear how you used our 'Success Thought of The Week' in your business or personal dealings.Please email your story to ann@gvasuccess.com.
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Copyright & Permission Copyright © 1998-2008 All rights reserved
Permission is granted to either reproduce copy or distribute "Your Success Thought for the Week" for April 22, 2009 as long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author is attached. The author is Ann Golden Eglé, GV&A, Golden Visions & Associates, Coaching for Success, 541.385.8887, PO Box 1696, Bend, Or. 97709. www.GVAsuccess.com
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