What is the route to success?
When you are truly committed to reaching your goal, providence will move with you. But if you don’t learn to ward off discouragements, attract good luck and above all persevere, you may never see your dreams come true.
Water?
Water reaches its destination by relentlessly flowing on. When it comes to a rock, it courses around and over it. When it comes to a precipice, it proceeds over the edge without hesitation. When it comes to a hole, it fills it up and continues on.
Follow the example of water.
When water doesn’t move it becomes stagnant. Remember this the next time you are afraid to make a decision. When you are afraid the worst thing you can do is nothing. Just get started. Consider the situation, form a plan and act. If you and those you are working with need guidance, keep the following tips in mind:
- Write the Goal
To accomplish anything, you must constantly keep the goal in sight. Your focus will also attract the support of others. In sports, most spectators attend the games in which they can see the goal, such as football, soccer and horse racing. Fewer people go to watch long distance running.
A study of college graduates revealed that those who left school with a goal in mind were about three times as successful as their classmates who graduated without definite plans. Furthermore, those who actually wrote their goal down had gone even further in their respective fields. The lesson? Set your sights on a target, then put your goal in writing.
- Deter Discouragements
Everyone gets discouraged. But the ones who don’t lose heart and give up are the ones who succeed. Many problems can arise when you’re working with a team: complicated relationships, pride, power struggles. They’re like the hard knocks football players take on the way to their goal. But you will continue to take the knocks, because when you cross into the end zone, all those bangs will become well worth the effort and you’ll be eager to get back out on the field.
Help yourself and those working with you through the bangs and bumps of your work by making the goal clear and by continually redirecting yourselves toward it. Intervene when those around you are discouraged, because their attitude will affect everyone involved in the project. By the same token, look to others to pull you out of your despondency. Listen to the people around you, make sure they have the resources they need and let them know that the mission is succeeding, even if their part seems stalled for a moment.
- Prepare for luck
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. It isn’t arbitrary; it requires hard work. If you’re not prepared when luck comes along, it’ll go somewhere else.
- Renew
You must stay new if you are to survive. If you detect a loss of momentum, if critical needs are not being met, it’s time for you and those you are working with to come together and re-evaluate who you are and where your purpose is. Regrouping and renewing can reignite the passion that got the project off the ground in the first place.