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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Success Doesn't Happen Overnight


By Mardi Hughes
We've all heard and read stories about someone becoming an "overnight" success. An actor no one has ever heard of "instantly" has fame and fortune; an entrepreneur becomes a millionaire overnight. The truth is, this just doesn't happen very often. One major exception to this is Gabourey Sidibe, the young woman cast as Precious in the Oscar nominated film of the same name. She had virtually no acting experience when she auditioned for the role. There are other exceptions of course, as there always are to every "rule" however most of us don't fall into that category.
Alexander Graham Bell, famous for inventing the telephone failed over a 1000 times before perfecting the instrument. J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, one of the most successful writers ever was rejected by 12 publishers after she wrote her first Harry Potter book and was told, even after she finally got it published to get a day job since she didn't have much chance of making a living writing children's book. What would have happened if she gave up because she wasn't an instant success? The old adage, "if at first you don't succeed, try, try, again" is very apropos.
If you ask successful people how they got where they are you will likely hear some the following.
1) Hard work
2) Passion for what I do
3) Vision
4) Failure
5) Persistence
6) Knowledge
7) Purpose
8) Failure
9) Never taking no for an answer
10) Focus
11) Long days and nights
12) Sacrifice
13) Great supporters
14) Belief in myself
15) Failure
You'll notice that failure is listed 3 times because failure is one of the stepping stones to ultimate success. If you never fail at something you aren't moving forward and moving forward is critical to reaching your goal of success.
Create your own list of what you need to get where you want to go. Tape it up by your desk and each time you have a set back look at it and remember, success doesn't happen overnight.
To get started or to continue on your journey to success, I'd like to invite you to visit http://www.mardihughes.com and sign up to receive a free copy of my 3 Powerful Steps to Kickstart your Future.
Mardi Hughes is a former college professor and business expert. She is also a recognized career and educational coach known nationally as The Opportunity Coach. Mardi is founder and owner of Mardihughes.com, an entrepreneurial and marketing consultancy working with budding entrepreneurs.
She is the former co-founder and principal of Appreciative Inquiry Group, an organizational development consultancy and co-founder of Off the Wall Phonics, a reading program for children with ADHD.

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