Keep Going!

Posted January 15, 2019

What’s the difference between those who achieve great success and those who fail? Successful people simply refused to quit. Their secret to success: keep going!

“If I had permitted my failures – or what seemed to me at the time a lack of success – to discourage me, I cannot see any way in which I would ever have made progress.” –Calvin Coolidge, 30th US President

Sometimes huge disappointments end up being a blessing in disguise. These highly-successful people experienced some massive disappointments on their way to success and fame:

Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4 years old, and he did not read until he was 7 years old. One of his teachers described him as “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in foolish dreams.” At one point he was even expelled from school!

Thomas Edison was fired from his first two jobs for being a “nonproductive” worker. In school, his teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” With a clear intention to invent electric light, Edison made more than 1000 unsuccessful attempts. When asked about how he felt about his many failures, he said, “I did not fail 1000 times; the light bulb was an invention that required 1000 steps.”

Charles Schultz, creator of the famous Peanuts comic strip, submitted his material to his high school’s yearbook staff and it was rejected.

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” His proposal for a theme park was originally rejected by the city of Anaheim, California because government officials thought it would only attract “riffraff.” He went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.

The Beatles asked Decca Records for a recording contract, and they were turned down and given this feedback: “We don’t like their sound. Guitar groups are on their way out.”

Fred Astaire received this memo from the Testing Director at MGM after his first screen test in 1933: “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.”

Babe Ruth set a world record for the most home runs. He also led the league in strike-outs.

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team because the coach said he wasn’t good enough. He went on to win six NBA championships.

JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected by 12 publishers before she found someone who said yes. Today she has sold more than 500 million copies of her books, which have been the basis for a popular series of films. She progressed from living on welfare to multi-millionaire status within five years. As of May 2018, Rowling’s net worth is estimated to be $1 billion.

Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling co-authors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, have 215 titles in print, and worldwide sales of over 500 million copies in 47 languages. They were initially rejected by 144 publishers who said it was a stupid title, that nobody bought collections of short stories, and nobody would want to read it.

The Key to Success

What separated all of these successful people from those who have not achieved success? They kept going! They did not give up and did not allow the opinion of others to stop them from following their dreams and passions.

“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.” –Thomas J. Watson

I’ll share my own personal story to illustrate how this works.

In 2007 and 2008, I participated in several of Jack Canfield’s personal development programs. The first was his Breakthrough to Success basic and advanced workshops, followed by a year-long participation in his Platinum Mastermind program.

At the conclusion of Jack’s Breakthrough to Success advanced workshop, he hosted a “Come as You Will Be” cocktail party. Each participant was asked to show up as ourselves five years in the future. I showed up as a best-selling author of a book with a recorded song included with the book.

I started to write my book in 2007 and I never got past the outline. In 2008, I noticed that many of the people in my Platinum Mastermind group were writing books, and I thought I should write a book myself, so once again I declared my intention to author a book. Still nothing came. I gave up and decided I was not going to write a book.

Looking back now, I realize that at the time I was moving through some heavy personal development work. My life was completely out of balance at the time. What I was attempting to write about — especially as it related to life balance — made me feel very uneasy and out of integrity.

Although I had let go of the dream, I continued to read this affirmation I’d written in 2007: “I am a best-selling author of a book and CD containing original music sung by me, with the lyrics supporting the core message of the book.” I also continued to do my personal work, which included enjoying a healthy balance of work, play, and self-care.

In November of 2010, I sat down at my computer keyboard and the outline of my book began to effortlessly flow out of me. I finished the first draft of my book, The Music of Your Heart, in just two months, on New Year’s Day — 1/1/11.

Here’s what happened next:

In February, I started sharing my draft with colleagues to get their feedback, one of them reminded me of my projected visualization from four years prior at Jack’s “Come as You Will Be” party. That visualization included producing a song on a CD inside the book cover. I’d forgotten about the song.

In March I contacted my world-famous composer friend and concert pianist, Kevin Cole, about writing the song. (Kevin was my accompanist for my voice lessons in 1977-78, when we were both students at Interlochen Arts Academy High School.) Kevin said yes!

In June there was no song.

In July there was still no song. I was planning to accompany my husband on a business trip to Chicago — where Kevin happened to live at the time — in August.

On July 27, I contacted Kevin to remind him that I was coming to Chicago in August. I asked him if I should reserve a recording studio so we could record the song together while I was in town. He said yes, although there was still no song. On faith, I went ahead and reserved the recording studio for August 12 and paid the deposit.

On August 6, I received the song from Kevin. I learned it in six days and we recorded it together in Chicago on August 12!

On August 17, I attended a convention with “freedom” as the theme. “Freedom to live the life of your dreams” was in the subtitle of my book. The first day of the Freedom convention — just five days after recording the song – the publisher delivered preview copies of my book to my conference hotel, with the CD of the song, Listen to Your Heart, inside the front cover!

I personally experienced two major lessons I wrote about in my book: (1) the incredible power of repeating affirmations; (2) what happens when you let go of the how and simply allow. Had I let go of my intention to include a CD of the song with my book and been focused on the how, I never would have taken the leap of faith to reserve a recording studio before I had the composed song in my hands.

Since writing my book, I have become a Jack Canfield Success Principles Certified Trainer. More than a coach, I consider myself a Life Architect. Assisting clients all over the globe, I work to help individuals identify the “why” of their life, and then design a blueprint that helps them to live more purposefully and productively.

If you’d like a fresh perspective – someone to help you create a blueprint to live more purposefully and productively — let’s schedule a no-cost, no-pressure Discovery Call today.