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How to Think Big? 5
Get the
Action Habit The test of a successful person is not the ability to
eliminate all problems before they arise, but to meet and workout difficulties
when do they arise. – Its still good advice to cross bridges as we come to
them. Two things to
do to help us start our goal/dream: 1. Expect future obstacles and difficulties. Every venture presents risk, problems and
uncertainties. (Example: Suppose you wanted to drive your car from Bicol to
Baguio, but you insisted on waiting, until you had absolute assurance that
there would be no detours, no motor trouble, no bad weather, no drunken
drivers, no risk of any kind. When would you start? Never! It makes sense to
map your route, check your car, in other ways to eliminate as much risk as
possible before you start, but you can’t eliminate all risks. 2. Meet problems and obstacles as they arise. We can’t buy an insurance policy against
all problems. Ideas are important. Let’s make no mistake about that. We must
have ideas to create and improve anything. Success shuns the man who lacks
ideas, but ideas in themselves are not enough. That idea for getting more
business, for simplifying work procedures, is of value only when it is acted
upon. “A good idea if not acted upon produces terrible psychological pain. But
a good idea acted upon brings enormous mental satisfaction.” Use action to cure fear and gain confidence. Here’s
something to remember: Action feeds and strengthens confidence, inaction in all
forms feeds fear. To fight fear, act. To increase fear – wait, put off,
postpone. Action cures fear. Start your mental engine – mechanically – When you
write a thought on paper, your full attention is automatically focused on that
thought. That’s because the mind is not designed to think on thought and write
another at the same time. And when you write on paper, you “write” on your
mind, too, Test prove, that you remember something much longer and much more
exactly if you write the thought on paper. Now is the magic word for success. Tomorrow, next
week, later, sometime, someday, often as not are synonyms for the failure word,
never. “It’s easier to spend what’s left over after savings than it is to save
what’s left over after spending.” Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do
today” by Benjamin Franklin. Remember,
thinking in terms of now gates things accomplished. But thinking in terms of
someday or sometime usually means failure.” Initiative is a special kind of action. It’s doing
something worthwhile without being told to do it. The person with initiative
has a standing invitation to join the high income brackets in every business
and profession. Two special
exercises for developing the initiative habit:
By all means, volunteer for those special assignments.
The fellow who stands on the sidelines, who holds off, who is passive, does not
lead, But the doer, the fellow who thinks action finds others want to follow him. People place confidence in the
fellow who acts. They naturally assume he knows what he is doing. I’ve never
heard anyone complimented and praised because “he doesn’t disturb anyone”, “he
doesn’t take action”, or “he waits until he’s told what to do”. Have you? How to Turn
Defeat into Victory Each person in the elite corps of successful men has
encountered opposition, discouragement, setbacks, personal misfortune. Learn
the background of the president of your company or the mayor of your city. Or
select any person you consider a real success. When you probe, you’ll discover
the individual has overcome big, real obstacles. It’s impossible to win high level success without
meeting opposition, hardship, and setback. But it is possible to use setbacks
to propel you forward. Salvage something from every setback. We can turn
setbacks into victories. Find the lesson, apply it, and then look back on
defeat and smile. Next time things seem to go wrong on the job or at home, calm
down and find out what caused the trouble. This is the way to avoid making the
same error twice. We human being are quick to accept full credit for
our victories. When we win, we want the world to know about it. But human
beings are equally quick to blame someone else for each setback. Being self-critical is constructive. It helps you to
build the personal strength and efficiency needed for success. Blaming others
is destructive. You gain absolutely nothing from proving that someone else is
wrong. Don’t run away from inadequacies. Be like the real professionals, they
seek out their faults and weaknesses, and then correct them. That’s what makes
them professionals. Stop blaming luck. Blaming luck never got anyone where he
wanted to go. Persisting in one way is not a guarantee of victory,
but persistence blended with experimentation does guarantee success. (Ex.
Thomas Edison’s more than 1000’s of light bulb experimentation). Many ambitious
people go through life with admirable persistence and show of ambition, but
they fail to succeed because they don’t experiments with new approaches. Stay
with your goal, but don’t beat your head against a wall. If you aren’t getting
results, try a new approach. Two
suggestions for developing greater power to experiment, the ingredient, that
when blended with persistence, get results: 1. Tell yourself, “There is a way”. As soon as you tell yourself, “I’m
beaten” there’s no way to conquer this problem, but instead believe, “there is
a way to solve this problem.” And positive thought rush into your mind to help
you find a solution. It’s believing there is a way that is important.
Psychologists say, an alcoholic is doomed to alcoholism until he believes he
can beat his thirst. A problem, a difficulty, becomes unsolvable only when you
think it is unsolvable. Attract solution by believing solutions are possible. 2. Back off and start afresh. Often we stay so close to a problem for so long that we can’t see new solutions or new approaches. When I live with tough design problems for a long stretch, I’ve got to get away and let some new ideas soak in. See the good side and conquer defeat. All things do work together for good if you’ll just develop clear vision. Remember, there is a good side in every situations, find it, see the good side and whip discouragement. |
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