One of the greatest questions that mankind has dealt with over the years is that of determining what causes success.  There have been many notable authors such as Napoleon Hill, Dennis Waitley, and Zig Ziglar who have tackled this subject, and produced spectacular works.  A common theme among all of the success literature is the notion that success is something you must go out and achieve.  One cannot expect success to come and find them in the middle of the night and announce its presence.  This analogy may sound silly, but it seems to be the strategy that many people pursue in regards to their own well-being.

The main thing that cripples most people’s chances for success is inaction.  Sometimes this inaction comes from genuine apathy, but many times it is the result of discouragement over past failures.  Feeling the sting of temporary defeat is both the ruin of many otherwise successful people and the “winners edge” that propels others to great heights of achievement.

The difference between the ‘winners’ and everybody else is that winners view temporary failure as a necessary stepping stone to their eventual success.  This creates the drive to keep going in spite of setbacks, defeats, or outright failure.  Entrepreneurial biographies are full of people that tried something, failed, tried something else, failed, and eventually realized success beyond their wildest dreams that was the direct result of the experience that was gained during all of their accumulated failures.  Unfortunately, the spirit of many people is crushed by the first setback and the seeds of success are not allowed to mature.

It is well known that Thomas Edison failed over 10,000 times while he was attempting to perfect the incandescent light bulb.  In is research, Edison viewed every failed trial as an accumulation of knowledge that led him closer to his goal.  The thing that makes vision like this remarkable is the fact that these entrepreneurs do not know when the ‘overnight success’ will actually happen.  The setbacks could last years, decades, or even longer.  It is the rugged determination to keep going that generates the ‘winners edge’ for great achievement.

As each of us go through our lives, it is important to ask whether we allow temporary setbacks to destroy our ambition.  Will we walk with the crowd and find comfort in tales of difficulty and defeat?  Or will we develop the ‘winners edge’ and use every setback to propel us closer to success?  The choice is there for each of us to make.  One is made by our emotions and the other is made by our reason.  Which will you pick?

 

When life becomes difficult, it can become very easy to believe that we are the victims of circumstance.  It is comforting to blame the economy, or whichever political party happens to be in power.  (Ironically, the political party in power typically blames the people that were in power beforehand as a way to try and absolve themselves of responsibility)

However, as individuals there is only a narrow scope of things that we can really control.  I do not have the ability to directly influence the political system since my one vote is easily dissipated.  Thus, the only area of my life that I can ‘really’ influence is what I choose to do and how I choose to react to my environment.

The importance of this insight lies in the fact that many people do not actively choose how they will act . . . instead, they react to their environment emotionally.  Therefore, in a very real way their environment shapes them instead of them shaping their environment.  Conversely, if we wish to exercise influence over our circumstances it requires that each action be a conscious choice.  James Allen described this phenomenon in his book: “As A Man Thinketh.”

The composition of the human mind is such that the thoughts we hold in our mind will manifest themselves in action by means of influencing our perceptions.  When our minds are fixed on blame and failure, then all that we will see is failure.  This focus on failure will naturally result in actions that take us in the direction of our thoughts.  When we consciously fix our minds on thoughts of improvement and achievement, we will remain open to opportunities.  Once we become open to opportunity, they seem to live everywhere that we look.

In the end, it is our thoughts that determine what we perceive.  This perception influences our actions and slowly molds the composition of our character.  Thus, it is figuratively and literally true that we are who we choose to be.