I’ve
been thinking about success a lot lately. And by success I don’t mean any kind
of celebrity status, but more like personal success. We all take on tasks and
challenges all the time whether it’s your career oriented or personal
challenges. Whether as a musician you set out to record an album organize a
tour, or maybe you go after a promotion or pay rise in your job. Or you set out
to exercise regularly, lose weight or something as simple as keep your house
clean. We all set goals for our self all throughout our lives. We also fail at
them all the time. But the occasional success feels so rewarding, that we want
more. We set our sights higher. And even though I had my fellow musicians in
mind while writing this, everyone can take something out of this post.
I
have noticed a pattern in myself and numerous people around me, which
definitely would be the first obstacle in success, and that is the fact that we
give up the first time we stumble. Imagine yourself as a kid learning to walk.
Did you fall? I bet you did. In fact I bet you did hundreds, if not even
thousands of times. But still you kept trying. Imagine if you could have that
same perseverance with whatever your goal is? And this is something I have
noticed lot of successful people have in common. When they fall down, instead
crying about it, they analyse why they fell down, learn from their mistakes,
get up and try again. Let’s take the weight loss as an example, just because so
many of us have been there somewhere along the way. So we set out on the new
fab diet, we follow it meticulously… For few weeks. Then we have a small slip.
A night out. We have few too many drinks, munch on salty peanuts during the
night, and on the way home we devour a massive take away. So we slipped, so
what? But the next day we feel like a failed. So we proceed to dump the diet
and go back to our old habits, instead of just continuing where we left off. We
all know deep down it takes time. So why do we refuse to accept it?
Another
thing I’ve noticed and have been guilty of, is not appreciating the success
when it comes. We always think things will be better at the next milestone. Why
can’t we enjoy the ride? Why can’t we enjoy the moment? If we did enjoy the
journey as much as the destination, maybe we would not mind few setbacks on the
way, maybe we could see them as a “scenic route”, or just a small character
building exercise.
When
I was young, I wanted things bad. Now I probably want certain things even more,
but I am willing to take my time. I am willing to fight the good fight along
the way instead of expecting things just handed to me. Success for me used to
be something that was almost unachievable, high up in the stars. Now it is
something that I can achieve with plenty of hard and smart work. I enjoy the journey;
I enjoy the challenges and rewards. And if all else fails, I make myself a new
cup of fresh coffee, stick on some nice music and once again everything seems
possible.
J.P. Kallio is a singer / songwriter / coffee
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! #dontgiveup
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