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| Jim Rohn |
Failure
is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure
is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor
choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more than a few
errors in judgment repeated every day.
Now
why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolish as
to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think
that it matters.
On
their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor
oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally doesn't result in
an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we escape from
any immediate consequences of our deeds.
If
we have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety days,
this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate impact on
our lives. And since nothing drastic happened to us after the first
ninety days, we repeat this error in judgment for another ninety days,
and on and on it goes. Why? Because it doesn't seem to matter. And
herein lies the great danger. Far worse than not reading the books is
not even realizing that it matters!
Those
who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a future health
problem, but the joy of the moment overshadows the consequence of the
future. It does not seem to matter. Those who smoke too much or drink
too much go on making these poor choices year after year after year...
because it doesn't seem to matter. But the pain and regret of these
errors in judgment have only been delayed for a future time.
Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the
inevitable day of reckoning finally arrives and the price must be paid
for our poor choices - choices that didn't seem to matter.
Failure's
most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short term those
little errors don't seem to make any difference. We do not seem to be
failing. In fact, sometimes these accumulated errors in judgment occur
throughout a period of great joy and prosperity in our lives. Since
nothing terrible happens to us, since there are no instant consequences
to capture our attention, we simply drift from one day to the next,
repeating the errors, thinking the wrong thoughts, listening to the
wrong voices and making the wrong choices. The sky did not fall in on us
yesterday; therefore the act was probably harmless. Since it seemed to
have no measurable consequence, it is probably safe to repeat.
But we must become better educated than that!
If
at the end of the day when we made our first error in judgment the sky
had fallen in on us, we undoubtedly would have taken immediate steps to
ensure that the act would never be repeated again. Like the child who
places his hand on a hot burner despite his parents' warnings, we would
have had an instantaneous experience accompanying our error in
judgment.
Unfortunately,
failure does not shout out its warnings as our parents once did. This
is why it is imperative to refine our philosophy in order to be able to
make better choices. With a powerful, personal philosophy guiding our
every step, we become more aware of our errors in judgment and more
aware that each error really does matter.
Now
here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the formula
for success is easy to follow: It's a few simple disciplines practiced
every day.
Now
here is an interesting question worth pondering: How can we change the
errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the
formula for success? The answer is by making the future an important
part of our current philosophy.
Both
success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable
rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If this
is true, why don't more people take time to ponder the future? The
answer is simple: They are so caught up in the current moment that it
doesn't seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so
absorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to
think about tomorrow.
But
what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes
every day to look a little further down the road? We would then be able
to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with
that valuable information, we would be able to take the necessary
action to change our errors into new success- oriented disciplines. In
other words, by disciplining ourselves to see the future in advance, we
would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new
habits to replace the old.
One
of the exciting things about the formula for success- A few simple
disciplines practiced every day - is that the results are almost
immediate. As we voluntarily change daily errors into daily disciplines,
we experience positive results in a very short period of time. When we
change our diet, our health improves noticeably in just a few weeks.
When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost immediately.
When we begin reading, we experience a growing awareness and a new level
of self-confidence. Whatever new discipline we begin to practice daily
will produce exciting results that will drive us to become even better
at developing new disciplines.
The
real magic of new disciplines is that they will cause us to amend our
thinking. If we were to start today to read the books, keep a journal,
attend the classes, listen more and observe more, then today would be
the first day of a new life leading to a better future. If we were to
start today to try harder, and in every way make a conscious and
consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors into constructive
and rewarding disciplines, we would never again settle for a life of
existence – not once we have tasted the fruits of a life of substance!
To Your Success,
(Excepted from the book "The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle" written by Jim Rohn)
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