Success & Goal Achievement
Success-Seeker vs. Failure-Evader. Which side are you on? (Part 2 of 2)
Author: Ronnie Nijmeh, ACQYR.com
This article is continued from Part 1 of Success-Seeker vs Failure-Evader. Which side are you on?
We left you off last time with characteristics about Success-Seekers and Failure-Evaders. Which side do you fall into?
Think of that famous fable "The Tortoise and the Hare." The slow tortoise races the fast, over-confident hare. The hare jumps out to a big lead then decides to take a nap during the race. He falls asleep and the tortoise wins. The End.
Well, imagine you're the tortoise and you're racing the hare. Now imagine the two personality types mentioned in Part 1 of this series:
Failure-Evader
Before the race even begins you're debating your existence. "Why am I trying, there's no way I'll win! I'll just be the laughing stock of all my tortoise friends!" you might ask yourself.
So you might decide to crawl into your shell and avoid the race all together. "Let's just pretend nothing happened here. There is no such race!" you might try to falsely convince yourself. I mean, at least you didn't fail, right? Albeit, you didn't even try in the first place.
Success-Seeker
Before the race begins, you're psyching yourself up. You're excited, maybe a little nervous, but you're ready to show the world that you're ready. In fact, you've probably already done your research on the hare, the competition, the racing conditions and the environment itself. You were preparing for success.
During the race you may realize that things aren't going as planned and you might be a few hundred metres behind. You start thinking: "I'm not giving up just yet, so how can I set myself up for success?" You might look to your left and notice a special "tortoise-only" shortcut path or perhaps you notice some really fancy tortoise roller blades, (in fact they're jet fueled roller blades). Or just like the story, you find the complacent hare taking a nap and you end up winning the race. Success-Seekers are able to make plans but adjust them when necessary. They're contingency planners and problem-solvers.
Risks + Challenges + Failures = Success
Are you more likely to crawl into your shell and give up instantly? At least you didn't fail (albeit you didn't try). Or are you more likely to find some other way to race? You might just find your competition complacent and end up winning the race. That's what Success-Seeking is all about.
"You miss 100% of the shots that you don't take."–Wayne Gretzky
I think Wayne Gretzky was up to something. You can't succeed by avoiding failure. You can only succeed by embracing risks, challenges, and failures. At some point, one of your risks will pan out and you'll find yourself in first place! When you make it, you can pride yourself in being a Success-Seeker, and not just a Failure-Evader.
Oh and by the way, there's a happy ending to our story. The Success-Seeking tortoise beat the sleeping hare.
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Published: October 21, 2003
