The Journey of a Thousand Miles
When we look at highly successful people, it's easy to just see the end results. We see the fortune, the fame, and the freedom they experience.
What we don't often see is the path they took to get there. We don't see the steps they took, the plans they executed, and especially the mistakes they've made. We don't see that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And then another.
Rarely have there been truly successful people who took one single step and achieved all they ever wanted. Yet when we see results, and we want those results, we often forget that there's a journey between where we are and where we're headed. We want the outcome, but we often don't want to take the journey to get there.
The thing is, those successful people we idolize, envy, and want to emulate did take those steps. They didn't just suddenly show up with a billion dollars or the perfect game.
Let's take Michael Jordan for example…
…He was cut from the basketball team in high school.
……He missed over 9,000 shots.
………He's lost almost 300 games.
…………26 times he was trusted to take the game-winning shot…
……………And he missed.
From all accounts if you looked at his failures you'd wonder how he ever even got on a basketball team.
Fortunately, Michael Jordan's success isn't judged by his failures.
He's remembered because of all the little steps he took along the way. The hours of dedicated practice. The games after games that he played. The passes to teammates who did win games and make key plays.
His own words are the best reminder as to why we remember him as the greatest basketball player of all time:
“I've failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan showed us that every step, quite literally on the court, leads to greater success. He didn't give up when he was cut from the high school basketball team. He kept practicing and practicing.
Most people who are wildly successful have had similar kinds of failures. It's in every walk of life. The thing is, those failures aren't really failures. They're just additional steps in the process. They illuminate where a person may have mistepped, or has more to learn, or has limiting beliefs.
Once the “mistake” is recognized, then we see it for what it is… a “mis-take.” It becomes an opportunity to “take” a chance again, to try again, to take another step. In this way, each step builds upon the previous. We learn more, we grow more, we create more… and ultimately we succeed more.
This is true whether it's 9,000 “mis-taken” basketball shots by Jordan, 10,000 “mis-taken” lighbulb attempts by Thomas Edison, or your own version of 1,000 steps.
The end result was success, and while all great successful people maintained their focus, they succeeded greatest by taking the next step in front of them.
In that light, keep your aim and also take a few minutes each day to do two simple things:
(1) Notice where you are right now.
Honor it. Appreciate it. Realize that every step you've taken in your life has brought you to this place and empowered you to be who you are.
(2) Take one simple and small step towards your big goal.
Recognize that there is something you can do today and maybe even in the next five minutes that will bring you closer towards your dream.
Maybe it's as simple as saying an affirmation.
Maybe it's learning from a mis-take.
Perhaps it's meditating, doing something to improve your productivity, or attending this free webinar to eliminate limiting beliefs.
Also… If the next step you take is a “mis-take”
Then learn the lesson and “take” it again. Your success in life will be determined greatly based on the steps you take along the way.
We don't get to the top of a staircase, or a pyramid, in a single bound. As much as we'd like to believe we're Superman, we aren't. We're human. And that requires a systematic, methodical, step-by-step approach to success…
Because that's how we're designed.