Success Should Be Expected

Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

We decide that we want something better for ourselves, so we begin to do whatever it takes to make this a reality. We save, we plan, we sacrifice. Our mission takes us two long years to get to the point where we feel ready to take the final step, but then we freeze. Why is there hesitancy? Why isn’t the feeling of enthusiasm we had up to this point, no longer present? Why can’t we move beyond the point of the step, before the last?

The answer to the questions above is doubt. Doubt always shows up at the most inappropriate time. This time could be at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end. If we’re serious about whatever it is we’re doing, doubt showing up is inevitable. The keyword here is “inevitable,” which means something that’s unavoidable. So, if we know that something is going to happen, we can properly prepare to deal with it, which diminishes its power considerably. The goal of this piece offering is to change the perspective of words most of us have deemed negative, especially doubt.

I regard doubt the chief of all the other words most of us have convinced ourselves are meant to hinder progress. Words such as fear, failure, and frustration. Like doubt, the other aforementioned realities have us believing that they inspire us to quit. And as we think and believe, so it shall become, but this doesn’t mean this is how it’s meant to be. In all actuality, the only thing that can have us quit is our desire to stop trying.

Success was never meant to be obtained easily, so, she hired the individuals who are known to make it the most difficult to obtain her. Difficulty not only builds character but it also brings about the proper appreciation for accomplishment once it’s been established. So doubt, fear, failure, and frustration are nothing more than a means to keep us honest with ourselves. When we claim that we want something, doubt and company appear to test that claim.

Imagine knowing that doubt is rooting for us to win. That there's a favor in failure. That fear is nothing more than a figment of our imagination. And that frustration just wants a huge hug, but just doesn’t know how to go about making it happen.

I’ve written numerous pieces about doubt, fear, failure, and frustration. My latest was a four-part story entitled, “Do You Believe?” If you haven’t read it in its entirety, I strongly suggest that you do so. Though it’s my perspective I strongly believe that it will provoke your thought, and this alone should do more than pique your curiosity.

I don’t believe any of us go into anything with the intent of not succeeding, because this is simply not a logical way of thinking. So if we believe we’re going to achieve our goal in the beginning, why not keep this same mentality to the bitter end, regardless of what happens, and especially when we understand to expect a test. To know means that half the battle is won, and depending on certain knowledge, victory is all but certain. What I’m sharing with you, is what experience helped me to understand. My understanding of what I’ve experienced has helped me to succeed. Will it help you as well? This I can’t answer, but if it assisted me in achieving my goals, why not at least take it into consideration that it couldn't hurt.

Thank you for reading my words. I pray that they assist you in your present, as well as future, endeavors.

May all we deserve and desire flow abundantly into our lives like a river into a sea.