Success Seems To Be Connected With Action

There’s a popular media trend these days where celebrities will write a letter to their “younger” selves. I always find them interesting to read.

One theme that comes up is that the experienced, successful celebrity will tell her “younger” self that the predicament or situation they encountered early in their career won’t turn out as bad as they imagined it would be. That the younger self would learn new things and new opportunities would open. That it would be ok.

I was asked a similar question at a business school class recently. My answer was similar.

“I’ve learned that things aren’t as good as they seem. Nor as bad as they seem.”

“I’ve learned the CEO gets too much credit and must shoulder the blame when it’s time.”

“I’ve learned that business has cycles and they repeat. I shouldn’t get disappointed when the cycle is at a low nor too excited when it’s at the top. If it’s bad, it will get better. When it’s bad, there are still opportunities for satisfaction and success.”

“I’ve learned that failure is neither fatal or final.”

I would add Hilton’s comment to the list. Stay moving. Don’t fold your tent.

When the economy was at its poorest, I was speaking with a mentor/one of the founders of PalletOne.

I was sitting in his office and confessed to him the tough circumstances I observed. I concluded with this comment: “I am resigned to the fact that things are bad and will be for awhile.”

He let that pass for a day or so. But, he called me and said this:

“I’ve been thinking about what you said. And there’s something I want you to know. I don’t like my CEO being resigned to anything.”

I said “Yes sir.” And we concluded our conversation.

But, I was changed. His comment was a call to leadership. He was reminding me of what it took to have a successful enterprise and what my responsibility was to the team. He caused me to shift gears. I got moving.

Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes. They don’t quit.

They aren’t resigned to anything because they can make improvement tomorrow.