Are you gaining on success or falling behind?

Are you gaining on success or falling behind?

I have heard many times that businesses are either going up or down. Never staying the same. We lose customers every year for one reason or another. They die, retire, move away, their brother in law becomes a competitor, you irritate them somehow. If you don’t have an ongoing program to gain new customers you are shrinking.

The same is true about your body. It deteriorates gradually with age and abuse. Like a complacent business owner who hopes sales will improve by themselves a person with no physical improvement plan is headed in the wrong direction.

Success is improving life, not just gaining money and possessions. It is figuring out what makes your day to day existence something you can’t wait to get at. The world around you is in motion. Today is not identical to yesterday. If you are not interested in keeping up and learning to harmonize with it you are being left behind.

I do not have a body or mind that is superior. There were always people around who could do whatever we were doing better tha
I could. At first I thought others being better than me was just the way it was. Nothing I could do about it. Gradually the truth about skills became more obvious.

Between the ages of five and twelve I learned to play kid games well enough not to be embarrassed. We were outdoor fanatics then and always choosing up teams for baseball, football or hockey. I was never the first pick but usually in the first three or four. I was puzzled when smaller non-athletic looking kids outperformed me.

Slowly I discovered that improving a level or two in games played for fun was really a matter of will. From time to time I have been able to get good enough to at least enjoy ping pong, pool, snooker, golf, tennis, bridge, chess, poker, bowling. Study and some practice on whatever I was currently into were looked upon differently when I knew I would be rewarded at game time. Getting better at something builds confidence.

Musical instruments? Dancing? The same mind set applied. If the reward was worth while the work became fun. It was not a matter of could I get a little better, but did I want it enough to put in the effort. Learning these lessons began to pay off on more important things in the adult years.

In the Air Force and business world I accomplished physical and mental things I never thought possible. Once again confirming that success does not require brilliance or inbo
athletic ability. It is gained when you finally grasp that it is really up to you. When you really want it and are willing to do what it takes. We might learn habits from parents that lead one way or the other but we don‘t inherit success or failure.

Things to remember:

Life is never a completed project.
Neither body nor mind limit your possibilities.
You can always do more than you believe you can.
Negative beliefs are overcome by study, effort and will.

Whether the goal is hitting a ball, increasing income, getting along better with those around you, kicking a bad habit or all of the above plus a few other things you have what you need. Choosing to use it is up to you.