Staying Power

Occasionally, someone will ask, "Is there a single characteristic that unites all the successful people you've met? Do you know the secret to their success?"

"I've noticed two things," I answer, "The first is that every successful person carries a yardstick for measuring progress; they always have a way to measure their success."

"Why is that important?"

"You cannot improve what you do not measure."

"Okay, so what's the second characteristic?"



It's at this point in the interview that I'd love to say "curiosity," or "loyalty," because these are the traits that I admire the most. But the truth is that I've known a lot of successful people who weren't curious in the slightest or loyal in the least. Likewise, it's not "intelligence" because I've also known some extremely successful dolts. (I'll bet you have, too.) Neither is it "education" or "planning" or "timing" or "sincerity" or "creativity" or "attention to detail" or anything else like that.



So how does a not-curious, disloyal, uneducated, insincere, uncreative dolt achieve success? "Staying power." Experience is a marvelous teacher. Any fool can be successful when he has the staying power to survive all his mistakes. Sometimes the staying power that's needed is financial. More often though, it's emotional.



Immediately after inventing the light bulb, Thomas Edison was asked, "How does it feel to finally succeed after having failed 1,000 times in a row?" "Failed?" replied the obviously confused inventor, "But I never failed. I just completed the final step in a 1,000-step process." Thomas Edison wasn't trying to be coy or witty. In his mind, there was never any doubt about whether he would succeed; the only thing that Edison couldn't tell you was how long it was going to take.



A young man fails in business at age 22. At 23, he runs for the state legislature...and loses. Then he fails in business again. Finally, he is elected to the legislature. Then his sweetheart dies and he has a nervous breakdown. Then he runs for Speaker. Defeated. He runs for Elector. Defeated. He runs for Congress. Defeated. He runs for Congress again. Gets elected! Runs for the Senate. Defeated. Runs for Vice-President. Defeated. But the skinny boy has staying power! Today you'll find his face on the most plentiful coin ever minted; the penny. He also snagged the five-dollar bill and the fourth position on Mount Rushmore.



A man writes a book. The first publisher rejects it. So does the second. So do the next 26 publishers. How many rejections is 28 rejections? This many: (Read them out loud for full effect.) Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected. Finally, publisher number 29 gives the author a chance. So far, that publisher has sold more than 200 million copies of his books.



The ones who succeed are those who have the ability to survive their mistakes. "Staying power." Thomas Edison had it. Abraham Lincoln had it. Dr. Seuss had it. You can have it!

Here are 8 steps to do it:
0- Don't think it, ink it!
1- Be proactive, Think innovative
2- Begin with an end in mind
3- Priorities things
4- Think win-win
5- Understand then be understood
6- Synergize (make allies)
7- Sharpen the saw (the quote)