WHAT IS HOLDING US BACK?

                                    

 WHAT IS HOLDING US BACK?

 

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.

 

                                                                               —Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

   What would happen if you drove your car with the brakes on? You’d never go full speed because the brakes would offer resistance. Your car would overheat and break down. If it didn’t break down, the resistance would strain the engine. To get to your destination, you would have to make one of two choices: You could either press the accelerator harder and risk damage, or release the brakes to make the car go faster.  (What does no holding back mean?)

                                   

   This analogy is a good parallel to life because many of us go through life with our emotional brakes on. What are the brakes? They are the factors that prevent you from achieving success–fear, procrastination, lack of pride and so forth. The way to release your emotional brakes is by building a positive attitude and high self-esteem and by accepting responsibility.  (what is holding me back in life)

 

FAILURE –20 REASONS WHY WE DON’T ACHIEVE EXCELLENCE

 

Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.

 

                                                                –Charles Schultz

 

There are 20 factors that can cause you to fail. By working to overcome these factors, you can release the brakes that are holding back your success. 

 

1.  Unwillingness to Take Risks

 

Success involves taking calculated risks. Risk-taking does not mean gambling foolishly and behaving irresponsibly. People sometimes mistake irresponsible and rash behavior as risk-taking. They end up with negative results and blame it on bad luck.  (what is holding me back from success)

   Risk-taking is relative. The concept of risk varies from person to person and can be a result of training. To both a trained mountain climber and a novice, mountain climbing is risky, but to the trained person it is not irresponsible risk-taking. Responsible risk-taking is based on knowledge, training, careful study, confidence and competence-factory that give you the courage to act while facing fear. The person who never attempts anything risky makes no mistakes. However, not making the attempt is often a bigger mistake than making the attempt and failing. (how to identify what is holding you back)

   Indecision is habit forming and contagious. Many opportunities are lost because of indecision. Take risks, but don’t gamble. Risk-takers move ahead with their eyes open. Gamblers shoot in the dark. (holding us up meaning)

   Once someone asked a farmer if he had planted what for the season. The farmer replied, “No, I was afraid that insects would eat the com.” Then the man asked, “What did you plant?” The farmer said, “Nothing. I played it safely.”  (What does holding out on us mean?)

 

                                                 RISKS 

 

                       To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.

                       To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. 

                      To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

                     To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.                  To place your ideas, your dreams, before a crowd is to risk their loss.

                       To love is to risk not being loved in return.

                       To live is to risk dying.

                       To hope is to risk despair.

                       To try is to risk failure.

 

                     But risks must be taken, because the greatest 

                      Hazard in life is to risk nothing.

                     The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has 

                             nothing, and is nothing.

                     They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they

                     Cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love or live.

                     Chained by their attitudes, they are slaves,

                     They have forfeited their freedom.

                     Only a person who risks is free.

 

2. Lack of Persistence

 

When problems seem insurmountable, quitting may look like the easiest way out. It is true for every marriage, job and relationship. Winners are struck but not destroyed. We all have had our setbacks in life. But failing doesn't mean we are failures.  (benefits of persistence)

   What is the difference between persistence and obstinacy? The difference is that persistence represents a strong will and obstinacy represents a strong won’t!  (determined and persistent)

   Most people fail not because they lack knowledge or talent but because they quit. The total secret of success lies in two traits: persistence and resistance. Persist in what must be done and resist from what ought not to be done.

 

                 A man is a hero not because he is braver than anyone else, 

                  But because he is brave for ten minutes longer.

 

                                                                                            –Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

3. Instant Gratification

 

   The desire to make a million overnight has made the lottery a flourishing business. We are living in an age of instant gratification. There is a pill for everything, from waking you up to putting you to sleep. People want to take a pill to get rid of their problems. In the same way when people want to be instant millionaires, they take shortcuts and compromise on their integrity. 

 (How do you overcome lack of persistence?)

4. Lack of Priorities

 

People make substitutions where they ought not to. For example, in relationships, they trade money and gifts for affection and time. Some people find it easier to buy things for their children and spouse to compensate for their absence than to spend time interacting with them. (Lack of Priorities)

   When we don’t have our priorities right, we waste time, not realizing that time wasted is life wasted. Prioritizing requires discipline to do what needs to be done rather than taking action based on our moods and fancies. These days too much emphasis is placed on success and failure rather than doing one’s best.  (Is there any shortcut to succeed in life?)

   How do you cope with defeat and problems? 

   Your response to this question says a lot about your character. One of the keys to solving this mystery of success understands your priorities. Some people set their sights on money, power, fame or possessions. We have to understand our priorities.  (a person who is not brave meaning)

   Success does not come by reading or memorizing the principles that lead to success, but by understanding them and setting your priorities to apply them.

 

5. Looking for Shortcuts

 

No Free Lunch

A king called his advisers and asked them to write down the wisdom of the ages so that he could pass it on to future generations. After a lot of work, the advisers came up with several volumes of wisdom and presented them to the king. The king called his advisers and said that it was too long and that people would not read it. The king told his advisers they would have to condense it. The advisers went back to work and came back with one volume. The king said it was still too long so they came back again with one chapter; again it was too long. Even one page was too long, said the king. Finally, the advisers brought back one sentence that satisfied the king. He said that if there was one piece of wisdom that he wanted to pass on to future generations, it would be: “There is no free lunch.”  (How do I avoid shortcuts?)

 

   Basically, “there is no free lunch.” means that you don’t get something for nothing. In other words, you get what you put in. If you don’t put much into a project, you won’t get much out of it.  (shortcuts to success)

   Of course every society has its share of freeloaders who are looking for something for nothing. (no shortcut to success)

 

The Easier Way May Actually Be the Tougher Way.

 

Once there was a lark singing in the forest. A farmer came by with a box full of worms. The lark stopped him and asked, “What do you have in the box and where are you going?” The farmer replied that he had worms and that he was going to the market to trade them for some feathers. The lark said, “I have many feathers. I will pluck one and give it to you and that will save me looking for worms. “The farmer gave the worms to the lark and the lark plucked a feather and gave it in return. (Is there any shortcut to succeed in life?)

   The next day the same thing happened and the day after and on and on until a day came that the lark had no more feathers. Now it could no longer fly to go hunting for worms. It started looking ugly and stopped singing and very soon it died.  (What are some shortcuts in life?)

 

   The moral of this story is quite clear–what the lark thought was an easy way to get food turned out to be the tougher way after all.

   Isn’t the same thing true in our lives? Many times we look for the easier way, which really ends up being the tougher way.   (what is holding me back from success)

 

Losers Look for Quick Fixes

 

There are two ways of getting rid of weeds in your yard: the easy way and the not-so-easy way. The easy way may be to run a lawnmower; the yard looks fine for a while, but it is only a temporary solution. Soon the weeds are back. The not-so-easy way means getting down on your hands and knees and pulling out the weeds by the roots. It is time consuming and painful, but the weeds will stay away for a longer time.  (Lack of Priorities)

   The first solution appeared easy, but the problem remained. The second solution was not so easy, but took care of the problem from the roots. The key is to get to the root of the problem. The same is true of our attitudes in life. Some people spread their attitudes of bitterness and resentment and these attitudes keep cropping up in different parts of their lives.

   The problem with people today is that they want instant answers. They are looking for one-minute solutions to everything. Like instant coffee they want instant happiness, but there are no quick fixes. This attitude leads to disappointment.  (What does create shortcut success mean?)

 

6. Selfishness and Greed

 

Individuals and organizations that have a selfish attitude have no right to expect growth. Their attitude is to keep passing the buck without regard for the welfare of others. Greed always wants more. Needs can be satisfied, but greed cannot. It is a cancer of the soul. Greed destroys out of poor self-esteem, which manifests itself as false pride, pretense, or “keeping up with the joneses.” The way out of greed is to learn to live within your means and be satisfied. Being content does not mean lack of ambition.  (Is selfishness a form of greed?)

 

WHERE DOES IT END?

 

A wealthy farmer was once offered all the land he could walk on in a day provided he returned by sundown to the point at which he started. To get a head start, early the next morning, the farmer started covering ground quickly because he wanted to get as much land as he could. Even though he was tired, he kept going all afternoon because he didn’t want to lose this once in a lifetime opportunity to gain more wealth.  (What does selfish greed mean?)

   Late in the afternoon, he remembered that the condition he had to fulfill to get the land was to get back to the starting point by sundown. His greed had gotten him far from the starting point. He started his return journey, keeping an eye on how close he was to sundown. The closer it got to sundown, the faster he ran. He was exhausted and out of breath, and he pushed himself beyond the point of endurance. He collapsed upon reaching the starting point and died. He did make it before sundown. He was buried and all the land he needed was a small plot.  (How can one overcome greed and selfishness?)

 

   There is a lot of truth in this story and a lesson to be learned. Whether the farmer was wealthy or not, any greedy person would have ended the same way.  (What are the signs of a greedy person?)

 

7. Lack of Conviction

 

People who lack conviction take the middle of the road. And, guess what happens to those in the middle of the road. They get run over!

    People without conviction do not take a stand. They go along to get along because they lack confidence and courage. They conform in order to get accepted even when they know that what they are doing is wrong.  (What does it mean to lack conviction?)

    Some people consider themselves a shade better because they do not support the wrong; however, they lack the conviction to oppose. But by not opposing something you know is wrong, you are actually supporting it.

   One of the important secrets to success is, instead of being against something, be for something. That way, you don’t become part of the problem, but part of the solution. It takes conviction to take a stand. (What conviction means?)

 

Conviction Takes Faith

 

Faith without action is delusion. Faith does not wait for miracles but produces them. 

 

If you think you can, if you think you can't, you are right.

                                                                 –Henry Ford

   We all have low moments; we all fall down and get hurt. We all have moments when we doubt ourselves and indulge in self-pity. The point is to overcome these feelings and restore your faith.  (lack of conviction in Tagalog)

 

  There are three kinds of people in this world:

1.    People who make things happen

2.    People who watch things happen

3.    People who wonder what happened 

 

   Which category do you fall into?

 

8. Lack of Understanding of Nature’s Laws

 

How many times it thundered before Franklin took the hint! How many apples fell on Newton’s head before he took the hint! Nature is always hinting at us. It hints over and over again. And suddenly we take the hint.

 

                                                                                     –Robert Frost

 

Success is a matter of laws and we are referring to the laws of nature. Change is nature’s law. We are either moving forward or we are going backward. We are either creating or disintegrating. There is no status quo.  (How do you understand the law of nature?)

   A seed, if it is not planted in the earth to create, disintegrates. Change is inevitable. It is going to happen whether you like it or not. All progress is change but all change is not progress. We must evaluate change and accept it only if it makes sense. Acceptance without evaluation amounts to conforming behavior, a sign of lack of confidence and low self-esteem.

   There is a lot to be said about tradition. Growth for the sake of growth is the philosophy of a cancerous cell. It is negativity spreading all over. That is not growth, that is destruction. Growth, in order to be meaningful, must be positive. (What is a common criticism of natural law theory?)

   Success is not a matter of luck, but of laws.

 

Law of Cause and Effect

 

In order to succeed, we need to understand the law of cause and effect and the relationship between actions and results. (What happens when we do not follow the laws of nature?)

   For every effect, there is a cause. The law of cause and effect is the same as the law of sowing and reaping. The laws of sowing and reaping are:

1.    You must have the desire to sown. Desire is the starting point.

2.     What you sow, so shall you reap. If you sow potatoes, you are only going to reap potatoes, not tomatoes.

3.    You must sow before you reap. Sowing takes place before reaping; you must give before you get. You cannot expect the fireplace to give heat before you put in the fuel. Some people are constantly looking to get before they give. It does not work this way. 

4.    When you sow a seed, you reap a manifold. If you sow a positive seed, your harvest will be manifold in the positive and , if you sow a negative seed your harvest will be manifold in the negative. It is not uncommon to see people going against nature’s law.

5.    A farmer knows that you cannot sow and reap in the same day. There is always a period of gestation. 

6.    You sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. You sow abundantly, you reap abundantly.

 

It is like the law of physics. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Most of the time people are trying to change the effect while the cause remains. Either you constantly feed your mind with positivity or negativity automatically fills the vacuum. Many ancient sages have also said what James Allen said in his book As a Man Trinket. A man’s mind is like a garden. But it will be weeds. That is nature’s law.

   The same holds true in our lives. In fact I would go a step further. Even if we plant good seeds, weeds would still grow. The process of weeding goes on forever.  (unwillingness meaning)

   If you put water in a glass and put it in sub-zero temperature, it will freeze. That is not surprising. This is nature’s law. In fact, that is the only thing that will happen.  (5 laws of nature)

 

Our thoughts are causes.

 

You sow a thought, you reap an action.

You sow an action, you reap a habit. 

You sow a habit, you reap a character. 

You sow a character, you reap a destiny. 

It all starts with a thought.

 

Laws of Attraction

 

We attract to ourselves not what we want but what we are. The old phrase, “Birds of a feather flock together,” holds true.

   Negative thinkers are dangerous. They attract other negative people, react negatively and expect the worst and they are disappointed.

   Have you observed how at any social occasion successful people attract other successful people? Failures attract other failures, and together they will moan, groan and complain. (law of nature philosophy)

   Our friends are not the kind of people we want but the kind of people we are.

 

9. Unwillingness to Plan and Prepare

 

Everyone has a will to win but very few have the will to prepare to win.

 

                                                                              –Vince Lombardi

 

Most people spend more time planning a party or vacation than planning their lives.  (What is an example of rationalizing?)

 

Preparation 

 

Confidence comes from preparation, which is nothing but planning and practicing. Winners put pressure on themselves. That is the pressure of preparing and not worrying about winning.

   If we practice poorly, we play poorly; because we play as we practice. The difference between success and failure is the difference between doing exactly right and almost right. (law of nature philosophy)

   A complete mental and physical preparation is the result of sacrifice and self-discipline. It is easy to be average but tough to be the best. No wonder the average person chooses the easy way. 

   Preparation is the necessary edge to succeed in any field. 

 

Preparation=Purpose +Planning +Practice +Perseverance +Patience +Pride 

 

Preparation Leads to Confidence 

 

Preparation means tolerating failure but never accepting it. It means having the courage to face defeat without feeling defeated, being disappointed without being discouraged.  (rationalizing abuse)

    Preparation means learning from our mistakes. There is nothing wrong with making mistakes. We all do. A fool is one who makes the same mistake twice. A person, who makes a mistake and doesn’t correct it, commits a bigger one. (i have learned from my mistakes)

   The best way to handle a mistake is to:

• Admit to it quickly
• Not dwell on it 
• Learn from it 
• Never repeat it 
• Not assign blame or make excuses.

 

Pressure comes from being unprepared. There is no substitute for preparation, practice and hard work. Desire and wishful thinking won’t do it. Only preparation will give you the competitive edge.

   Pressure can paralyze you if you are not prepared. Just as water gravitates to its own path, success gravitates to those who are prepared. Weak effort gets weak results.  (How do you recognize an opportunity?)

   Persistence is a name we give to:

• A purpose 
• Preparation 
• Patience
• Principles 
• Positive attitude
• A plan 
• Pride 
• Practice
• Price

 

Ask yourself

• Do you have a clearly defined purpose?
• Do you have a plan of action?
• What effort are you putting into preparation?
• What price are you willing to pay? How far are you willing to go?
• Do you have the patience to withstand the gestation period?
• Are you willing to practice toward excellence?
• Do you have any firm principles to stand on?
• Do you have pride in your performance?
• Do you have the “can do” attitude?

 

10. Rationalizing

 

Winners may analyze but they never rationalize–that is a loser’s game. Loses always have a book full of excuses to tell you why they could not. We hear excuses like:   (What is an example of rationalizing?)

• I’m unlucky.
• I’m born under the wrong stars.
• I’m too young.
• I’m too old.
• I’m handicapped.
• I’m not smart enough.
• I’m not educated.
• I’m not good looking.
• I don’t have contacts.
• I don’t have enough money.
• I don’t have enough time.
• The economy is bad.
• If only I had the opportunity.
• If only I didn’t have a family.
• If only I had married right.

 

The list can go on and on. There are two things that determine whether a person will be a success: reasons and results. Reasons don’t count while results do. (What is rationalizing behavior?)

 

How They Catch Monkeys in India

 

Monkey-hunters use a box with an opening at the top, big enough for the monkey to slide its hand into. Inside the box are nuts. The monkey grabs the nuts and now its hand becomes a fist. The monkey tries to get its hand out but the opening is big enough for the hand to slide into, but too small for the first to come out of. Now the monkey has a choice, either to let go of the nuts and be free forever or hang on to the nuts and get caught. Guess what it picks every time? You guessed it. He hangs on to the nuts and gets caught.

   We are no different from monkeys. We all hang on to the nuts that keep us from going forward in life. We keep rationalizing by saying, “I cannot do this because ….” and whatever comes after “because” are the nuts that we are hanging onto that are holding us back.  (rationalizing factor)

   Successful people don’t rationalize. Good advice for failure is: Don’t think, don’t ask, and don’t listen. Just rationalize.  (law of nature philosophy)

 

11. Not Learning From Past Mistakes

 

While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.

 

                                                                       –Henry C. link

 

People who do not learn lessons from history are doomed. We learn from failure if we have the right attitude. Failure is a detour, not a dead end. It is a delay, not a defeat. Experience is the name we give to our mistakes. 

   Some people live and learn, and some only live. Wise people learn from their mistakes–wiser people learn from other people’s mistakes. Our lives are not long enough to learn only from our own mistakes!  (mistakes in life)

 

12. Inability to Recognize Opportunity

 

Opportunities can come disguised as obstacles. This is why most people don’t recognize them. Remember, the bigger the obstacle, the better is the opportunity.  (How do you recognize an opportunity?)

 

13. Fear

 

Fear can be real or imaginary. Fear makes people do strange things. It primarily comes from a lack of understanding. To live in fear is to live in an emotional prison.  (What are the five stages of opportunity recognition process?)

   Fear results in insecurity, lack of confidence and procrastination. It destroys our potential and ability. We cannot think straight. Fear ruins relationships and health.  (5 stages of opportunity recognition)

   Some common fears are:

• Fear of failing 
• Fear of the unknown
• Fear of being unprepared 
• Fear of making the wrong decision
• Fear of rejection

 

Some fears can be described, others can only be felt. Fear leads to anxiety which in turn leads to irrational thinking. And this actually sabotages our ability to solve problems. The normal response to fear is escape. Escape puts us in a comfort zone and reduces the impact of fear temporarily, while the cause remains. Imaginary fears magnify the problem. Fear can get out of hand and destroy happiness and relationships. Think of fear as meaning:

·         FALSE 

·         EVIDENCE 

·         APPEARING 

·         REAL

Fear of failure is often worse than failure itself. Failure is not the worst thing that can happen to someone. People who don’t try have failed even before attempting. When infants learn to walk, they keep falling; but to them it is not failing, it is learning. If they became disheartened, they would never walk. It is better to die on one’s feet than to live with fear on one’s knees.

 

14. Inability to Use Talent

 

Albert Einstein said, “I think I used about 25% of my intellectual capacity during my life.”

   According to William James, human beings use only 10-12% of their potential.*  (fear of failure kakorrhaphiophobic)

   The saddest part of most people’s lives is that they die with the music still in them.

   They haven’t lived life while alive. They rust out rather than wear out. I would rather wear out than rust out. The saddest words in life are: “I should have.”

   Rusting out is not to be confused with patience. Patience is a conscious decision, it is active and involves. (What is the result of lack of discipline?)

   Perseverance and Persistence. Rusting out is idleness and passivity.

   Someone asked an elderly person, “What is life’s heaviest burden?” The elderly person replied sadly, “To have nothing to carry.”

 

15. Lack of Discipline

 

You have a choice in life: You can either pay the price of discipline or regret.

 

                                                                             –Tim Connor

 

Have you ever wondered why some people never reach their goals? Why are they always frustrated with reversals and crises? Why do some people have continued success, while others have endless failures? Anyone who has accomplished anything worthwhile has never done so without discipline, whether in sports, athletics, academia or business.

   People without discipline try to do everything, but commit themselves to nothing. Some so-called liberal thinkers have interpreted lack of discipline as freedom.  (How do you treat lack of discipline?)

   When I am in an aircraft I want a pilot who is disciplined and does what he is supposed to do and not what he feels like doing. I don’t want anyone from the control tower telling me what to do.”

   Lack of consistency is poor discipline. Discipline takes self-control, sacrifice, and avoiding distractions and temptations. It means staying focused. Steam does not move the engine unless it is confined. Niagara Falls would not generate power unless it were harnessed. (fear of failure test)

   We all know the story of the tortoise and the hare. The hare bragged about this speed and challenged the tortoise to a race. The tortoise accepted the challenge. They appointed a fox as the judge. The race started and the tortoise kept going, slowly but the hare sprinted off. He quickly left the tortoise behind. As he was confident of winning the race he decided to take a nap. By the time he woke up, remembered the face, and resumed running, the tortoises had already reached the finish line and won.

   Consistency takes discipline and is more important than erratic effort.

   Disciplined children brought up with excessive freedom and a lack of discipline grow up not respecting themselves, their parents or society, and have a hard time accepting responsibility. (How do you treat lack of discipline?)

 

16. Poor Self-Esteem

 

Poor self-esteem is lack of self-respect and self-worth. It leads to abuse of one’s self and others. Ego takes the driver’s seat. Decisions are taken more to satisfy the ego than to accomplish anything worthwhile. People with low self-esteem are constantly looking for identity. They are trying to find themselves. One’s self is not to be found, but to be created.  (lack of discipline weakness)

   Idleness and laziness are consequences of poor self-esteem and so are making excuses. Idleness is like rust that eats into the most brilliant metal. (how to overcome low self-esteem)

 

17. Lack of Knowledge

 

Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

 

                                                                           –Will Durant

 

The first step towards knowledge is awareness of areas of ignorance. The more knowledge a person gets, the more he realizes what areas he is ignorant in. A person who thinks he knows everything has the most to learn. 

   Ignorant people don’t know they are ignorant. They don’t know that ‘they don’t know’. In fact, more than ignorance, the bigger problem is the illusion of knowledge, because when you think you know something –but don’t –your decision-making will be flawed. (What is the word for lack of knowledge?)

 

18. Fatalistic Attitude

 

A fatalistic attitude prevents people from accepting responsibility for their circumstances. People with fatalistic attitudes attribute success and failure to luck. They resign themselves to their fate. They accept the predestined future written in their horoscope or stars. They believe that regardless of their effort, whatever has to happen will happen. Hence they never put in any effort and complacency becomes a way of life. They wait for things to happen rather than making them happen. Success is a matter of luck, ask any failure.  (What is a fatalistic view of life?)

   Weak-minded people fall easy prey to fortune-tellers, horoscopes and self-proclaimed God men who are sometimes conmen. They become superstitious and ritualistic. (Some people consider a rabbit’s foot lucky; but it wasn’t lucky for the rabbit, was it?)

 

   If you want to fail, believe in luck. If you want to succeed, believe in the principle of cause and effect, and you will create your own “luck”. As Samuel Goldwyn said, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”  (What is a fatalist person?)

 

Some People Think are Just Unlucky

 

This breeds a fatalistic attitude. People who get involved half-heartedly say things like:

• I will give it a try
• I will see if it works 
• I will given it a shot 
• I have nothing to lose 
• I haven’t put much into it anyway

 

If you think like this, you’ll be sure to fail because you’ll have no dedication or determination. This thinking patterns show a lack of courage, commitment and confidence. Attempting half-heartedly is like expecting failure and achieving it.  (What is a fatalistic view of life?)

 

Effort Does It

 

A man bought a racehorse and put him in a barn with a big sign, “The fastest horse in the world.” The owner didn’t exercise the horse nor train it to keep it in good shape. He entered the horse in a race and it came last. The owner quickly changed the sign to “The fastest world for the horse.” By inaction or not doing what should be done, people fail and they blame luck.  (What causes fatalistic thinking?)

 

   Life without vision, courage and depth is simply a blind experience. Small, lazy and weak minds always take the easiest way, the path of least resistance.

    Athletes train 15 years for 15 seconds of performance. Ask them if they got lucky. Ask an athlete how he feels after a good workout. He will tell you that he feels spent. If he doesn't feel that way, it means he hasn’t worked out to his maximum ability.  (How do you overcome lack of purpose?)

   Losers think life is unfair. They think only of their bad breaks. They don’t consider that the person who is prepared and playing well still got the same bad breaks but overcame them. That is the difference. The winner’s threshold for tolerating pain becomes higher because in the end he is not training just for the game as for his character.

 

Luck Favors Those Who Help Themselves

 

A flood was threatening a small town and everyone was leaving for safe ground except for one man who said, “God will save me. I have faith.” As the water level rose a jeep came to rescue him, the man refused, saying “God will save me. I have faith.” As the water level rose further, he went up to the second story of his house, and a boat came to help him. Again he refused to go, saying, “God will save me, I have faith.” Well, finally he drowned. When he reached his Maker he angrily questioned, “I had complete faith in you. Why did you ignore my prayers and let me drown?” The lord replied, “Who do you think sent you the jeep, the boat and the helicopter?”

 

   The only way to overcome a fatalistic attitude is to accept responsibility and believe in the law of cause and effect rather than luck. It takes action, preparation and planning rather than waiting, wondering and wishing, to accomplish any goal in life. (Is it normal to not have a purpose in life?)

 

Luck Shines on the Deserving

 

Alexander Graham Bell was desperately trying to invent a hearing aid for his partially deaf wife. He failed at inventing a hearing aid but in the process discovered the principles of the telephone. You wouldn’t call someone like that lucky, would you?  (What is another word for lacking courage?)

   Good luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Without effort and preparations, lucky coincidences don’t happen.

                                                 

 

                                               LUCK

 

                                      He worked by day 

                                      And toiled by night.

                                      He gave up play

                                      And some delight.

                                      Dry books he read,

                                      New things to learn.

                                      And forged ahead,

                                      Success to earn.

                                      He plodded on with

                                      Faith and pluck;

                                      And when he won,

                                      Men called it luck.

                                                                     –Anonymous

 

19. Lack of Purpose

 

Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.

 

                                                                               –Washington Irving

 

If we read stories of people who have overcome serious disabilities, it is evident that their burning desire to succeed was their driving force. They had a purpose in life. They wanted to prove to themselves that they could succeed in spite of all odds–and they did.  (opportunity identification process)

   Desire is what made a paralytic Wilma Rudolph the made a boy with burnt legs set desire to succeed, she went on to become a world holder at three events and won the gold at the 1956 Olympics at Melbourne. Her name is Shelley Mann.

   When people lack purpose and direction, they see no opportunity. If a person has the desire to accomplish something, knows the direction to move to achieve his objective, has the dedication to stay focused, and has the discipline required to put in the hard work, then success follows. But if you don’t have purpose and direction, it doesn’t matter what else you have, you won’t succeed.  (what causes lack of courage)

   Character is the foundation upon which all else is built. It endures.

 

20. Lack of Courage

 

Successful people do not look for miracles or easy tasks. They seek courage and strength to overcome obstacles. They look at what is left rather than what is lost. Wishes don’t come true; beliefs and expectations supported by conviction do. Prayers are only answered when they are supported with courageous action. Courage and character are the critical combination for success. This is the difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary.

   When our minds are filled with courage we forget our fears and overcome obstacles. Courage is not the absence of fear but the overcoming of fear. Character (Justice and integrity) without courage is ineffective, whereas courage without character is oppression.  (how to recognize opportunities in entrepreneurship?)

 

A CRASH COURSE FOR SUCCESS

• Play to win and not to lose.
• Learn from other people’s mistakes.
• Associate with people of high moral character.
• Give more than you get.
• Don’t look for something for nothing.
• Always think long term.
• Evaluate your strengths and build on them.
• Always keep the larger picture in mind when making a decision.
• Never compromise your integrity.