No matter who you are, where you were born, or what your circumstances are or aren't in your life and career, I would argue that the statement above would ring true for virtually everyone who has ever lived.
And ironically, those who are the most successful are often those who have experienced the most disappointments along the way. In fact, a primal reason such persons are so successful is usually because they were willing to try (and fail) at a lot of things along the pathways of their personal or professional ascent. It's the old "Babe Ruth" phenomenon. In other words, if you are going to hit a lot of home runs, you are almost certainly going to have a lot of strikeouts along the way.
Most professional baseball players hit less than a .300 batting average—and they are the best in the world at their craft. That means most players only get a hit once in every three times they are up to bat. Even the very best batters don't hit much higher than .300, meaning they still get "OUT" a lot more than they get a hit.
"I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career; I have lost over 300 games. Twenty-six (26) times I was trusted to take the game-winning shot—and missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed."
— Michael Jordan
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| Lincoln with McClellan and his staff at Antietam. Perhaps no American President faced more disappointments, failures, frustrations, and dangers than Abraham Lincoln. Yet he is viewed today as our most successful president! |
Jenkin Lloyd Jones, a minister and veteran of the American Civil-War (Union), once put it this way:
"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to just be people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."
My own, well-chronicled personal and professional journeys have been fraught with failures, disappointments, and delays, as previous blogposts have amply illustrated as follows...
Click HERE to read about Dr. Jensen's struggles with OCD, Anxiety, and Depression.
Click HERE to read about Dr. Jensen Career Crucibles
Click HERE to read about Dr. Jensen's Difficulties Dating in his article, My Rocky Road of Romance
So what's the point?
If you don't believe this is true, just ask anyone who has achieved any kind of authentic success over long periods of time in their life or career—and they'll provide you with a long list of failures, disappointments, and delays that they experienced along the way. While it is true that some people become authentically successful a lot faster than others, everyone ends up facing their fair share of ups and downs along the way. And often a person's greatest disappointments and failures come after one is already supposedly successful (like an MVP who continues to strike out or an already successful professional who faces a devastating setback). So while no one's story is exactly the same, all stories of authentic success share significantly similar patterns and themes.
That's just the way things are.
Thus, if you desire to be authentically successful, you must learn to DISCIPLINE YOUR DISAPPOINTMENT.* If you don't learn and develop this critical skill, then you will eventually be overcome by frustration and discouragement and you will give up!
Self-action leaders don't ever give up.
When necessary, they wisely change course; but they never give up.
As such, we must learn to discipline our disappointment so we are strong enough to persist until we succeed when the going gets rough. And it's not a matter of if the going will get rough. It's a matter of when it's going to get rough, and just how rough things will get before we achieve a given objective.
So... how exactly do you discipline your disappointment?
Good question!
I suggest THRE (3) habits to practice that will empower your own capacity for DYD.
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| Disciplining your Disappointment throughout your journey prepares you for success at the finish line. |
Habit #2: Study the lives of authentically successful men and women.
Being conscious of the challenges that great people endured to get where they are will help you realize that your own challenges are "normal" and "okay." In addition, your will find perpetual inspiration from authentically successful men and women who were able to overcome their difficulties to earn great success.
Habit #3: Affirm key statements rooted in both positivity and reality.
Affirmations are powerful. Whatever you consistently tell yourself (believe) about yourself will have a strong influence on your daily results and ultimate outcomes in life. For example, when you go to the plate (literally or figuratively), think, subvocalize, and/or say things to yourself like: "I am an outstanding baseball player"; "I am going to hit a home run"; "I am going to make this pitcher wish he had thrown a different pitch to and/or faced a different batter than me." Then, when things turn out differently than you had affirmed and hoped, encourage and re-affirm yourself with statements like: "It's okay; this happens to the best of 'em. I'll nail it next time by (fill-in-the-blank behavioral change)"; "I still don't have as many strikes as Babe Ruth!"; and "I'm so glad I'm not afraid to try."
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Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.
References:
* 2000. Jim Rohn. Building Your Network Marketing Business (CD)
Yeah, this article is really great and yes discipline is most important thing in life if you want to succeed..!!
ReplyDeleteCultivating Emotional Balance