My wife and I were basking in the glow of our newly awarded Master of Arts degrees back in 1997, celebrating with nearly all of our cohorts in the Organizational Leadership program with Chapman University. It was a big occasion for both of us, having been the first in either family to get ANY college degree, much less a graduate degree.
The program was a rigorous one. We had a core of classes to attend, numerous papers and group projects, a big final paper of 60-80 pages, and finally, a 4-hour comprehensive exam.
But one of our cohorts, a guy named Rick wasn’t there to celebrate. He made it all the way to the exam part of the program and got cold feet. We wondered why he wasn’t at the testing center. The program allowed you two attempts and if you failed, you were only awarded a graduate certificate. The following year, Rick again failed to take the exam. We never heard from him again.
Anyone can start something. Many of you have started new resolutions this year which probably include the old stand-bys of quitting smoking or losing weight. Some of you have already given up. Some are going strong right now but will lose steam and quit in a few weeks or months. Finally, some of you will beat the odds and finish strong. You’ll attain your goal.
We are surrounded by quitters. I wouldn’t say it’s human nature, but it’s common human practice. We’re inspired by those who achieve greatness but fail to realize these people aren’t really great, they just stick with it. The good news is that all of us have it in ourselves to succeed. We just need to keep pushing forward.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time studying successful people. I find they have three things in common:
- They dream big.
- They break their progress in achieving these dreams into manageable steps.
- They keep moving forward, refusing to stop, even if it means moving slowly.
I read somewhere that whether you run a 6-minute mile or a 12-minute mile, you still have run a mile.
If you’ve already quit, don’t wait for next January to start back up. If you didn’t set any goals, again, it’s not too late.
Nobody said that a year HAS to start on January 1. Yours can start tomorrow.
Why not get busy?
