Success Is Important

Regardless of their culture, race, religion, economic back- ground, or social group, most people would agree that success is vital to the well-being of the individual, the family unit, and the group—and certainly to the future survival of all of these things. Success provides confidence, security, a sense of com- fort, the ability to contribute at a greater level, and hope and leadership for others in terms of what is possible. Without it, you; your group, company, goals and dreams; and even the entire civilization would cease to survive and thrive.

Think of success in terms of expansion. Without contin- ued growth, any entity—be it a corporation, dream, or even an entire race—would cease to exist. History is full of examples that support the notion that disaster occurs when expansion doesn’t continue. We can include the Vikings, Ancient Rome and Greece, Communist Russia, and an endless list of com- panies and products. Success is needed in order to perpetuate people, places, and things.

You must never reduce success in your mind or in a con- versation to something that doesn’t matter; on the contrary, it is vital! Anyone who minimizes the importance of success to

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your future has given up on his or her own chances of accom- plishment and is spending his or her life trying to convince others to do the same. Individuals and groups must actively accomplish their goals and targets in order to carry on. If not, they will either cease to exist or be consumed and become part of something else. Companies and industries that wish to maintain their status must successfully create products; get those products to the market; keep clients, employees, and investors happy; and repeat that cycle over and over.

There are far too many “cute” sayings that seem to dis- miss the importance of success, like “Success is a journey, not a destination.” Please! When terrible economic contractions occur, everyone quickly realizes they can’t eat or make house payments with cute little sayings. The economic events of the past several years should have made it obvious how badly we all underestimated the importance of success—and how essential it actually is to our survival. It is not enough just to play the game; it is vital that you learn to win at it. Winning— over and over again—at everything in which you involve yourself ensures that you will be able to further expand. And it guarantees that both you and your ideas will survive into the future.

Success is equally important to a person’s sense of self. It promotes confidence, imagination, and a sense of security and emphasizes the significance of making a contribution. People who are unable to provide for their families and their future put themselves and their families at risk. People who aren’t success- ful can’t buy goods and services. This can cause an economy to slow down and taxes to diminish, which will then negatively impact funds for schools, hospitals, and public services. About this time, some will say, “But success is not everything,” and of course, it isn’t everything. Yet I always wonder what point people are trying to make with this statement. When some- one in my seminars says this to me, I often respond by asking something along the lines of, “Are you trying to diminish the importance of something you haven’t been able to attain?”

Get real! Regardless of whatever goals you are trying to attain—success is absolutely critical. If you quit caring, then you quit winning; quit winning long enough, and you will just plain quit! Do kids benefit when they see their moms and dads losing or quitting? Does anyone benefit when you can’t get your art sold or that great book published or that great idea that will improve everything across? No one will benefit from your failure. However, if you were able to reverse it and attain the goals and dreams you set for yourself—now, that would be something.

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Date: 2016-04-22; view: 916