This is so good I had to re-post it to all my blogs. Very enlightening thought on failure or success. I vote for SUCCESS!!!
"Economic disaster begins with a philosophy of doing less and
wanting more."
-- Jim Rohn
The Formula for Failure and Success by Jim Rohn
Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight.
Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor
thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is
nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day.
Now why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so
foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she
does not think that it matters.
On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor
oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally doesn't
result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we
escape from any immediate consequences of our deeds.
If we have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety
days, this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate
impact on our lives. And since nothing drastic happened to us after
the first ninety days, we repeat this error in judgment for another
ninety days, and on and on it goes.
Why? Because it doesn't seem to matter. And herein lies the great
danger.
Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it
matters!
Those who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a
future health problem, but the joy of the moment overshadows the
consequence of the future. It does not seem to matter. Those who
smoke too much or drink too much go on making these poor choices
year after year after year... because it doesn't seem to matter.
But the pain and regret of these errors in judgment have only been
delayed for a future time.
Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the
inevitable day of reckoning finally arrives and the price must be
paid for our poor choices - choices that didn't seem to matter.
Failure's most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short
term those little errors don't seem to make any difference. We do
not seem to be failing. In fact, sometimes these accumulated errors
in judgment occur throughout a period of great joy and prosperity
in our lives.
Since nothing terrible happens to us, since there are no instant
consequences to capture our attention, we simply drift from one day
to the next, repeating the errors, thinking the wrong thoughts,
listening to the wrong voices and making the wrong choices.
The sky did not fall in on us yesterday; therefore the act was
probably harmless. Since it seemed to have no measurable
consequence, it is probably safe to repeat.
But we must become better educated than that!
If at the end of the day when we made our first error in judgment
the sky had fallen in on us, we undoubtedly would have taken
immediate steps to ensure that the act would never be repeated again.
Like the child who places his hand on a hot burner despite his
parents' warnings, we would have had an instantaneous experience
accompanying our error in judgment.
Unfortunately, failure does not shout out its warnings as our
parents once did. This is why it is imperative to refine our
philosophy in order to be able to make better choices.
With a powerful, personal philosophy guiding our every step, we
become more aware of our errors in judgment and more aware that
each error really does matter.
Now here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the
formula for success is easy to follow: It's a few simple
disciplines practiced every day.
Now here is an interesting question worth pondering: How can we
change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines
required in the formula for success? The answer is by making the
future an important part of our current philosophy.
Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely the
inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past
activities. If this is true, why don't more people take time to
ponder the future?
The answer is simple: They are so caught up in the current moment
that it doesn't seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of
today are so absorbing to some human beings that they never pause
long enough to think about tomorrow.
But what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few
minutes every day to look a little further down the road? We would
then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current
conduct. Armed with that valuable information, we would be able to
take the necessary action to change our errors into new
success-oriented disciplines.
In other words, by disciplining ourselves to see the future in
advance, we would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors
and develop new habits to replace the old.
One of the exciting things about the formula for success - a few
simple disciplines practiced every day - is that the results are
almost immediate. As we voluntarily change daily errors into daily
disciplines, we experience positive results in a very short period
of time. When we change our diet, our health improves noticeably in
just a few weeks.
When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost
immediately. When we begin reading, we experience a growing
awareness and a new level of self-confidence. Whatever new
discipline we begin to practice daily will produce exciting results
that will drive us to become even better at developing new
disciplines.
The real magic of new disciplines is that they will cause us to
amend our thinking. If we were to start today to read the books,
keep a journal, attend the classes, listen more and observe more,
then today would be the first day of a new life leading to a better
future.
If we were to start today to try harder, and in every way make a
conscious and consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors
into constructive and rewarding disciplines, we would never again
settle for a life of existence - not once we have tasted the fruits
of a life of substance!
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Thanks to Jim Rohn
-Darrin Walton
www.wealthyways4you.com