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Thursday, March 01, 2012

One Thing You Must Do to Succeed at Anything


Photo by Elena Koycheva on Unsplash


Peggy had been secretly writing a book for a long time. She didn’t want anyone to know that she was writing a book so she kept pages of her manuscript hidden in every nook and cranny of her small apartment.  She didn’t have much confidence in her book, and the only person she had shown it to was her husband who encouraged her to keep writing.


One evening, at a social occasion, she was introduced to a famous editor who was scouting for new talent. Peggy didn’t tell him that she was writing a novel. She didn’t have any confidence in her work. But, an inadvertent remark by one of her “friends” about Peggy’s lack of writing ability, spurred her to bring her manuscript to the editor on his last night in town.


He liked what he read. Within a few months, with the editor’s suggestions, Peggy finished her novel. When published it became one of the most read and admired books in history. The book was Gone With the Wind, and Peggy was Margaret Mitchell.
     
One of the hazards of a less-than-adequate self-image is the tendency not to finish things. This is because the act of finishing can be scary. You can fail, or not like the final product, or have it rejected by others. As you progress toward completion of a project, you might stop because you don’t have the courage of your convictions or simply don’t have the confidence in your ability. 


Giving up seemingly takes off the pressure that’s been building inside. That way you never have to fear the outcome or be proven to be inadequate. Yet, you’ll discover that your successes are only those things that you finish. Finishing things is the first secret of success.  


It does not mean that everything you finish will be a success. What it does mean is that it will have the potential of succeeding. One thing is almost certain—that which you don’t finish will not succeed.


Give yourself permission to NOT be perfect at first. That which you finish, whether it’s a first draft of a book or the construction of a birdhouse, may have flaws and be imperfect. That’s when you can begin the editing process or the finishing process to fix the flaws. The point is that you have something to work with. Then as editor or re-worker, you can get to work and make it better.  You learn more each time you complete a project. 


Finish things. Only then can you learn from your mistakes and gain confidence, knowledge, and skill. As Winston Churchill said, “Never, never, never give up!”  Keep going until you finish.






“The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson


“Things won are done.”  —William Shakespeare



“When you get in a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” —Harriett Beecher Stowe




Questions for Self Reflection:


• What project am I working on now that I need to finish? When?


• Is there anything slowing me down? If so, what is it?


• How can I overcome it and finish my latest project?





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