Striving towards Excellence

So many thoughts and ideas never see the light of day for want of just one thing - the start and the beginning. We are not lacking in inspiration and sometimes we are inundated with ideas. And especially after we are done taking our shower… these thoughts disappear like the fog that disappears as we come out of the bathroom.

Just imagine acting on these thoughts and following it up. You will be amazed at the fantastic and fabulous results. Some of us do begin but then give up at the first sight of setback. It is nice to remember that we should expect to fail. If you expect to fail, and fail, failure in itself is a success. You are motivated by failure as what you wanted was failure. Persist with failure and as you persist and practice, inadequacies slowly get removed and soon you are on the road to success. Let's reflect on the story of the two brothers who began well in their pursuits of money but gave up at the sight of setbacks. Here's a tale to contemplate upon.

This is the tale of two brothers who sold their assets and migrated to where gold was supposed to exist. They started looking for the gold initially but gave up when there was no trace of gold despite continuous excavation.

They were frustrated and felt there was no point spending more money and energy on a project that seemed to have nothing in store for them. They looked for a buyer and sold the plot of land along with the right to the mine. The person who purchased the plot went on digging despite finding no gold and came the day when he found the mud amalgam that had ores of gold. Faith and perseverance had paid him rich dividends.

Perseverance was the key to success of the one who bought the mine. He did not give up saying "there is no potential". There is enough to be taken but are we taking them? Winston Churchill's motto for success was 'Never, never give up'. 'Keep on keeping on' should be the driving thought. More often we don't succeed not because we don't know what we want, but because we don't want it intensely enough - so says W Wattles.

Let's learn "PURGATORY" from Craig McDermott.

The great Australian pace bowler of the '90s, Craig McDermott, was in the dumps and humiliated when he was dropped from the side that was touring England. McDermott played for Australia during 1984-1996 in 71 Test matches and 138 ODIs, having won man of the match awards in Test matches five times and three times in ODIs. He was the Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1986. Suddenly, he found he was losing rhythm and was no longer the force he was and was dropped from the team. His pride was hurt and he felt as though the earth was slipping from under his feet. He lost his place in the team but what he did not lose was his belief in himself and the attitude of perseverance.

He realized he had to do something and he began and persisted. He realized he had to shed the extra pounds he had collected around his waistline and the only way to get rid of those extra pounds was to put in lot of hard work. He strained every sinew for six hours each day swimming against the tide. He was running, jogging and never did give up swimming against the tide.

Running improved his performance on a sustained basis and swimming against the tide gave him a strong chest as also strong shoulders. Since he was swimming against the tide, he developed uncanny ability to bowl against the wind. When he was delivering the ball with a strong shoulder, he was able to generate extra bounce and match after match, he was the most feared bowler dismissing batsman after batsman. This was called cricketing purgatory. Purgatory is nothing but cleansing oneself of unwanted things and focusing on what needs to be done.

Living purgatory is the essence of perseverance. Let us get rid of such practices such as procrastination, delving into negatives, not focusing on issues, gossiping, abusing body and mind and in the process generating stress, strain. These are to be purged.

H .Sherman commends that we make this affirmation as we start the day:

I will never give up so long as I know I am right.
I will believe that all things will work out for me if I hang on till the end.
I will be courageous and undismayed in the face of odds.
I will not permit anyone to intimidate me or deter me from my goals.
I will fight to overcome all physical handicaps and setbacks.
I will try again and again and yet again to accomplish what I desire.
I will take new faith and resolution from the knowledge that all successful men and women have had to fight defeat and adversity.
I will never surrender to discouragement or despair no matter what seeming obstacles may confront me.

No pain, no gain - so goes the saying. We expect rewards without trials and tribulations. We forget that there is a price for every thing. When the price is paid, the prize is ours.

Tips for aspiring entrepreneurs: Never have this approach - The market is saturated. I can't find any buyer and there is no way I can sell.

1. Never conclude there is no potential. Realize that you are yet to find the way to unearth the potential.
2. Expect to fail; expect to be rejected.
3. Remember, what gets rejected is your proposal, your presentation and may be you need to examine your proposal. What is rejected is you, the sales person, and not you, the person.
4. Persist with the customer - Ask him for his feedback on your presentation - the style, the content and the intent. Not only will he be your customer as you go along, he will be your life-long referral. He will sell for you. Isn't it great?

Just think of this fascinating phenomenon. Can any one person claim exclusive rights to the sun, moon, stars, rivers, mountains and hills? Does the sun say that his bountiful sunshine is only for so and so and not for so and so. Does the rain say, "I will be raining and it is for him and not for you?" The bounties of nature are for everyone and how is that the flavour of success is only for some and the frustration of failure is for many?

Creation is such that they are universal. How is it then that when there are successful people there are an equal number, if not more, unsuccessful people? When the Almighty has been generous enough to give all these for everyone, how is it that success goes to some and failure and frustration goes to some others? It is the ingredient of attitude. What all of us have is the power of choice; the power to choose; the power to be positive or negative, the power to have faith and confidence and the power to have diffidence and lack of trust in ourselves. Success depends on the choice we make. In other words, if we are unsuccessful, it is only because we choose not to be successful.

The glory of doing is outdone only by the glow of achieving. To win, let's begin and persist.

"It's so hard when contemplated in advance, and so easy when you do it." - Robert M. Pirsig