The sun sets on another day…
I was driving as the sun set and set the sky on fire. The clouds lit up like overcandled pumpkins, and in a moment it was gone. As Twilight fell I could only laugh at the beauty and watch it slowly fade away, it was awesome!
I’m going through some old papers right now and setting things aside that I need to while keeping things that have meaning. I found the letter from my dad from the early 90s while he was still alive. The letter followed my promotion to a new job in charge of special projects with an excessive amount of responsibility.
My dad always tried to help but sometimes he wasn’t sure how. He had a significant amount of life experience but had no concept of the things that I had been through in my life as we had been estranged for 12 years during my childhood. Although we tried to connect it was sometimes difficult as he couldn’t understand the things I had been through.
Anyway, when it came to this new position, he had three pieces of advice for me:
- it must be possible to achieve success
- you must have the ability to be successful
- you must pay the price of success
Now these seem pretty easy but the first one is often very difficult. The idea of it being possible to achieve success might be conceptual but it also may require a little bit of thought and Somehow the ability to divorce ourselves from our bias. A great many people think they can be successful and it is possible to achieve success but they don’t weigh the necessary factors for that success and in doing so they overlook difficult situations and potential pitfalls.
This applied to my job, but it can apply to anything. No matter how you approached it from parts of life it must be possible to achieve success, you need to have the ability to succeed, and you must be willing to pay the price. Without all three it may be lost.
What do you think? Do these rules apply as much as I think they do? Do they have merit in today’s society? Do you feel they apply to you?
So as the sun sets on another day, I succeeded in that position quite well. At first I agreed with my father, I thought #1 was not achievable. Somehow I found a way to change the rules and in the process two and three we’re pretty easy. I hope you find your way each and every day, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and find success…