From the book, “That Ain’t No Deal!”
Just as true quality is never a happy accident, neither is success. Good things happen for a reason. Sure, sometimes you’ll get lucky and come out smelling like a rose despite making bad decisions, but that’s like winning the lottery.
Success you don’t earn doesn’t last very long. It’s not sustainable. In my mind, success you can’t count on is no success at all.
So, if success is a choice, who in the world would ever choose failure? I don’t think most people are stupid, but I see people do stupid things every day. Nobody sets out to fail, and nobody would ever agonize in front of a signpost faced with a simple dilemma: “Do I choose the path to success or failure?”
The tricky thing is that success isn’t the result of one choice, but of a million choices. It takes wisdom and foresight to know which direction you’re heading in. It’s pretty hard to have the clarity to step back and read the signposts, but they’re there.
Too many people spend their whole lives walking down the wrong path only to realize, once they reach the end of the road, that they wasted their lives. And far too many people lose their nerve. Paralyzed with fear, they don’t have the stomach to lead their own life, much less to lead their business, family or organization. Have courage!
It takes guts to own up to the fact that success is ultimately your choice. Embrace the challenge, and you’ll find it incredibly liberating.