I Can Accept Being Afraid of Failure - I Cannot Accept Being Afraid of Success

I believe that one of the main reasons people don’t achieve their goals is because they sabotage themselves. Achieving goals requires putting in a certain amount of effort often times, we imagine wanting to have or be something and then want that thing as immediately as when we imagined it.

However, life doesn’t work that way. The process of “putting in work” will require facing challenges, overcoming obstacles and solving problems that will arise along the way. The problem is, many people give up on themselves and their goals at the first challenge they encounter. Some take a second or third swing at their goals and give up if they strike out.

I believe that people don’t give up on themselves because they’re afraid of failing. I believe that they give up on themselves because they’re afraid of succeeding. In fact, I believe that it’s impossible to give up on your goals because you’re afraid of failing. If you’ve given up on your goals, you’ve actually succeeded at failing – so what, exactly is there to be afraid of?

It takes work to become successful; however, once you’ve achieved a goal, you can’t just squat where you are and call it a day. You have to set new goals. You’ve got to raise the bar. You’ve got to work harder. I believe that people who give up on their goals do so because they know that they will have to work harder.

You see, once you go about setting and achieving goals, you’ve three options:

1. Once you’ve achieved your first goal, in order to maintain your position you’ll have to keep working at the level you rose to in order to achieve that goal in the first place.

2. If you wish to set a new goal and rise higher than the goal you’ve achieved, that means you will have to work harder than the original goal.

3. Do nothing ... Do nothing and eventually revert back to that original state of mediocrity you were trying to escape from,

This is where fear of succeeding comes into play. To be more specific, it’s not really fear of success ... people are afraid of having to put in the work necessary to continuously excel.

It’s easy to succeed at failing. It doesn’t take any work at all – in fact all you have to do to succeed at failing is ... NOTHING. However, in order to fail at failing ... in order to succeed, you have to be willing to accept, face, and overcome all challenges and all challengers.

So when you find yourself looking across the distance between where you’ve set your goal and where you’ve achieved it; and you see the thunder, the lightening, and the roaring waters therein, remember the HRJR motto:

Maiestas Saluto Non Mediocris – Fortibus Fortuna Favet
Greatness Visits Not the Mediocre - Fortune Favors the Brave!

HRJR's "Words of Wisdom" ... I'm Getting Noticed!

Every day, Rev. Joseph Simmons; better known as Rev. Run, or Run from the iconic rap group RunDMC, writes daily affirmations on a listserve called "Rev. Run's Words of Wisdom." It's just a sentence or two that gives people that little push they may need to help them get through the day. Sometimes it's something he comes up with himself, a piece of scripture, or a quote from someone else. There is always a motivational message.

If you've ever seen his TV show on MTV, "Runs House," you see that at the end of every show he's typing these affirmations into his blackberry.

Last year, I had the opportunity to not only meet this man, I gave him a copy of my book - FIND A WAY TO MAKE A WAY! You're Either Part of the Solution or You're Part of the Problem! - which he graciously accepted.

I've been suscribed to this listserve for a couple of years now, and every morning via e-mail, I receive his "Words of Wisdom." Today, I was nearly knocked out of my chair when I observed that two of the quotes he used for today's "Words of Wisdom" were taken directly out of my book!

One was a quote by Motivational Speaker, Brian Tracy ("BT"), and the other was mine ("HSRjr" which stands for "H.S. Reed, Jr.")

Here is the posting below:

Friday, March 27, 2009

Good morning.

“Most people operate on autopilot, doing what comes naturally. They get into a comfort zone of average performance, and seldom question their behavior.” -BT

"The best way to determine what your life's purpose should be now is to determine what you want people to say about you at your funeral, and then live up to it until that day comes." -HSRjr.

God is Love,
Rev Run
Read more at Run's Words of Wisdom at globalgrind.com/revrun.

*************************************

Things like this are proof-positive that you are capable of making your dreams come true; that you can make something out of nothing. All you have to do is commit to fulfilling your goals and dreams, and then take consistent action towards their fulfillment. Let God do His thing. Remember, an eternity for us is nothing more than the blink of an eye for God. Contrary to popular belief or whatever we may want for ourselves, we're on HIS timetable - not our own.

All good things come in due time!

Remember ... Fortune Favors the Brave!

Success is Making Something Out of Nothing!

Every possible toy or tool of convenience were once someone's ideas.

We are all made of the same biological material, so on a human level we are all equal and on the same ground; however, the one thing that ultimately determines who will be successful and who won't is the ability to convert an intangible idea into a physical reality. In this society, when you can take that ability and be able to have people - especially total strangers pay their hard earned money for that thing, you are truly successful.

Write a book or a song that sells. Create a product that makes personal grooming and or house cleaning easier. Design a building or a house that people will either rent space in or buy outright - these are just a few examples of how millions of people have made millions of dollars throughout history.

Find a void, fill that void, and you will find success.

A Word of Advice for My Sisters ...

This evening I participated in a group blog discussion where the theme of the discussion was "Do you think a "Good Black Man" is hard to find?"

My answer to the question & contribution to the discussion is below:

In life, you will find what you focus on. Sisters SAY they want to find a "good Black Man" but where are they looking? It may very well be compared to looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. However, ask yourselves ... Why would a needle be in a haystack anyway? With THAT question in mind, where are sisters looking for "good black men?" If you're looking in the clubs, welcome to your haystack.

Young sisters can find their "good black man" in school. Instead of looking for the jock on swoll, or the "rico suave" brother who will look good in a picture with you at homecomeing or on Facebook, you might want to pay some attention to that brother in class who is actually participating in the class and scoring well on his exams & papers. You might want to pay attention to that brother who spends his free periods and the first couple of hours after classes in the library instead of the student union or campus pub.

Sisters in the workplace might want to pay attention to that brother who is always amongst the first ones to arrive to work ON TIME, if not even a little early, or the one who always gets his projects and assignments done on time, or even a little early. Pay attention to that brother who has the boss' ear because of the caliber of his work ethic - not because he's a sell-out or suck-up.

Even for those who do enjoy an evening at the club - you might want to pay attention to that brother who you may see only once or twice a month instead of the brother who is there CONSISTENTLY EVERY Thursday through Saturday nights. What about the brother who just goes and enjoys a couple of drinks and a couple of dances, but is not trying to buy every attractive woman a drink or ask every sister for a dance? A couple of times (in my single days) I was pleasantly surprised by sisters who introduced themselves by having the bartender send me a drink because I was that particular brother.

"Good black men" are hard to find, not necessarily because you're looking in the wrong places, but because you might not be looking for the right things. Granted, everyone - male or female - wants that man or woman who will be attractive, hoenst, & faithful; however, these are things you only learn after you've met the other person.Instead of "looking" perhaps try "observing" for a while. I have received several friend requests from beautiful sisters on Facebook alone based on how I go about expressing my views only to learn after seeing my profile that (unfortunately for them), I am a happily married man ... Sorry sisters - this one is taken (smile). HOWEVER, I am not the ONLY "good black man" on this forum or anywhere else.

In short, if you want to find that special needle, don't look for it in a haystack. Look for a needle amongst a multitude of needles. Most of what you'll find in that haystack are others just looking to roll around in the hay with you.

Thought of the Day: NETWORKING

It's not about getting a hook-up for yourself. It's being able to connect one person to another person & make a compounding potential asset out of the both of them!

It's one thing to meet someone who can provide a service you need. That's great! However, it's even better to meet a person who you might not need at the moment and be able to introduce him or her to someone else you know that he or she may need and making that connection happen.

When you facilitate people's needs to provide a product or service as well as others' needs to have those products or services provided, you begin to establish the momentum of creating power.

Nowhere to Go but UP!!

The reality is that NOW is the time for people to begin making their fortunes.

Right now, while the news media has the average American running around scared to death, the real investors are silently buying low. You see, the true measure of wealth building is one's ability to ride out a storm - so there are real estate investors racking up just buying properties dirt cheap at auctions all over the country. The economy WILL rebound. It's not a matter of IF, it's just a matter of WHEN, and WHEN it DOES those investors will be the new millionaires of the Obama era - black, white, or whatever.

Another area ripe to be utilized in building wealth is entrepreneurialism. Just like the news media makes stuff up in the absence of truth, in the absence of money we can go about "making" it. You see there's a difference between earning money & making money.

Earned money is that 9 to 5 money; however, if you can create a product or service that others find value in and they're willing to pay your price for it, that is money you MADE. You see, you MADE the product or service and by selling the product or providing the service that people could use you were able to convert it into the money that YOU can use (Read "Rich Dad/Poor Dad" by Robert T. Kiyosaki to learn more).

Back in the day, housewives brought in additional money by doing other people's laundry and watching other people's children. How many of us had a baby sitter named Mrs. Jackson, Dunn, Jenkins, Brown, Johnson - or the neighborhood "Big Momma?" Tyler Perry didn't create the name "Madea." How many "Madeas" do we know out there watching 5 to 10 kids at $25 per head per week or more? 10 kids @ $25/wk. each = $1000/month or $12K/year.

This past weekend I ran into a co-worker at the post office who told me she's a "power-seller" on E-Bay. She finds all kinds of items at garage sales and online, has her husband fix up whatever little knocks they may have, and then sells them on E-Bay. She brings in an additional $500 a month on E-Bay. In short, that E-Bay money covers a monthly bill, or groceries, just gets stashed away. The bottom line is that's an additional $6000 a year more than she would have had if all she did was sit at home doing nothing.

If there is a product to be sold there is a customer out there to buy it. One of my friends told me he was able to sell his Sony Walkman on E-Bay! NOT A CD or MP3 PLAYER ... A WALKMAN!

In the end, none of us are going to be receiving any checks in the mail with the words "BAIL OUT" in the memo section, so you can either get up off the bench and venture out into the unknown and get yours, or you can just wait and have nothing at all, or at the very least, whatever is left over by those who did.