From: John Yost [john.yost@procompass-ms.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 5:18 AM
To: Business Leader
Subject: ProCompass Newsletter - Issue 14

Issue 14 November 18, 2003

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In this Issue:

Is Success Within Your Grasp?

We seem to be a success driven society. And there is nothing wrong with that. Why shouldn’t everyone want things a little bit better for themselves and others. But doesn’t it seem that success is always elusive? Many people seem to always be chasing after success only to have it elude their grasp. Is success achievable for only the few, the select, and the privileged? I think if we look at success from a couple of different aspects we might begin to clear up this confusion.

First, I believe many people strive for success using a borrowed definition of success. They believe that success will come when they achieve a certain amount of wealth or a certain political or social standing, because that appears to what has made others successful. Success on this scale is really nothing more that envy. For success to be meaningful for each of us, it must be unique to each of us.

Secondly, success must include and be bounded by the values that we hold as the foundation for our behavior and actions. If we achieve a significant amount of wealth, or drive our company to the highest level in our industry; would we be successful if we violated our values of honesty and integrity, or sacrificed our values concerning family and friends.

Lastly; is success really a state that can be achieved and held on to? Does someone stop being a success once he reaches a predetermined set of goals? I think you’ll agree that success is a never ending journey where the destination is always changing and the plans and goals change along with it. In other words, success is the journey, not the destination. When I sometimes get too concerned about the concepts of success and failure. I like to the think of Rudyard Kipling’s immortal words --

“If you can meet with triumph and disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same”

Success and Failure are merely words we attach to results. Success is the results we like and failure is the results we don’t like. It is said that Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times to create an electrical light bulb before he finally succeeded. Abraham Lincoln had two unsuccessful businesses and lost seven congressional races before he was elected president. I don’t think either of these two men considered themselves failures. Failure is only an event, it is never a person. “Success is the progressive realization of our own worthwhile, personal, achievable goals”.

Man’s reach should exceed his grasp; else what’s a heaven for?

Robert Browning

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