Sometimes defeat is the best beginning. Why? Well for one thing, if you’re at the very bottom, there’s only one way to go–up. But more importantly, if you’re flat on your back, mentally and financially, you’ll usually become sufficiently disgusted with yourself to reach inside and pull out miracles. If you’re flat broke or flat miserable, you’ll eventually become so disgusted that you’ll pull out the basic essentials required to make everything better.
It’s in the face of adversity that change begins. With enough disgust, desire, and determination to change your life, you’ll start saying, “I’ve had it. Enough of this. No more. Never again!”
These words and these thoughts really rattle the power of time and fate and circumstance. And time, fate, and circumstance all get together and say, “Okay. Okay. We can see that we have no power here, we’re facing some major resolve! This guy’s not going to give up. He’s had it. He’s done with all this nonsense. We’d better step aside and let this guy get by!” Inspiration through disgust.
A lot of people don’t change themselves. They wait for change. These poor unfortunate folks accept their defeats and wallow in their self-pity. Why? Because they refuse to take control of the situation. They refuse to take control of their life, their career, their health, their relationships, their finances. They refuse to take responsibility and get sufficiently disgusted to change it.
If you are disgusted, if you are in the need of some change, if this book finds you in the middle of a personal slump, then I (Jim Rohn) have some words to offer. Your present failure is a temporary condition. You will rebound from failure just as surely as you gravitated into failure.
One time when I was in the midst of a bout of failure, somebody suggested that I tell myself, “This, too, shall pass.” I firmly believe that you’re only given as much as you can handle–as much negativity, as much failure, as much disappointment. This, too, shall pass, if you grasp for a new beginning. You need to pull yourself up and move back into the world with a plan.
As foolish as it might sound, you should be thankful for your current limitations or failures. They are the building blocks from which to create greatness. You can go where you want to go. You can do what you want to do. You can become what you want to become. You can do it all, starting now, right where you are.
A father talks about his daughter. She’s gone through some pretty tough times, and as he tells it, she’s a pretty tough person. He has a unique way of describing his daughter’s situation, though. While most parents would be frantic, even of their kids who are grown and gone, this man just smiles and says that his daughter is like a frog in a jar of cream.
She keeps kicking and kicking and kicking and pretty soon the cream will solidify into a lump of butter, and she’ll be able to jump out. That’s an interesting illustration of tenacity, because that’s how it really works. You’ve got to keep trying and trying and trying. You’ve got to have enough resolve to do it until you succeed.
Some of the most inspiring success stories have started with failure. Longfellow started with failure. Michelangelo started with failure. Lincoln started with failure. Rod Serling wrote forty stories before he had one that was accepted. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper that felt he had no talent. Richard Byrd crashed his plane on one of his first solo trips before he became one of the world’s greatest explorers. And the success stories continue.
Be grateful for your adversity. At the same time, make sure that it’s working for your future, not against you. Make your failures give birth to great opportunity, not prolonged agony. Make your disgust lead to inspiration, not depression. The world will willingly sit by and let you wallow in your sorrows… until you die broke and alone. The world will also step aside and let you by, once you decide that your present situation is only temporary. The doors will open once you decide to get back on your feet and make your mark.
The world doesn’t care whether you choose to stop here or to go on. So you have to care. In your own enlightened self-interest, give adventure a chance. Keep your eyes firmly set on achievement. Don’t settle for more existence and self-pity. Make a commitment to excellence. And remember, it is your own personal challenge to use all your gifts, skills, talents, and knowledge to survive and succeed.
* Source: Leading an Inspired Life by Jim Rohn