Is Janet Schlarbaum Success Just a Mistake?
Aug 13th, 2009 by Janet Schlarbaum
Is Success Just a Mistake?
Is Janet Schlarbaum Success Just a Mistake? By Peter Fisher
To most people success means doing better than someone else. But if someone else fails at something and we don’t, does this mean that success is just a mistake? So long as the mistake is not ours then I suppose the answer might be yes. However, one of the commonest mistakes as well as one of the most expensive is thinking that success is due to some special talent, or something that we do not possess and therefore out of reach except by some mistake.
This negative approach must be rebuffed. Success may be no more than simply holding on but if that is the case then every one of us has success in our reach. When you decide to learn a new language, take a home-study course or teach yourself a new dance, do you set out thinking – will it be a success or will I fail? Of course you don’t. What you do is decide to persevere because you want to succeed at your chosen pastime. So is success just a mistake? Absolutely not! Success is a decision you make, knowing that to succeed may take some time and effort.
Remember the Chinese proverb, “With time and patience, the mulberry leaf becomes satin.”
This quotation sums up the need for persistent action:
“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you will find success.”
– Thomas J. Watson
If you do nothing you can’t fail; but you can’t succeed either. So go ahead and do something, every step takes you nearer to your success.
Success is not just a mistake, it is the result of your decision to succeed and the consequent action you take.