Friday, June 25, 1999

The price is the reward

For some reason, we like to think that something outside ourselves will cause us to be successful. We too often fall prey to fantasies of being lucky, or being in the right place at the right time, or getting in on a “ground floor” opportunity.

Those things happen, to be sure. Yet they are unreliable at best. The reality is that we really don’t need to be lucky. While the chances of being in the right place at the right time are very slim, success is almost guaranteed for anyone who will do whatever it takes to achieve it.

Your success must come from you. What is success, anyway? It is the ability to live your life in the way that you choose, with purpose and meaning. No one can live your life but you. Success is not defined by the physical possessions to which you have legal title. It is defined by the way you live your life.

The only person who can make you successful is you. Sure, you might be able to acquire the tokens and appearances of success without putting yourself into it. But you will not have success. Success demands daily, moment-by-moment commitment and effort. Success requires that you put forth the best you have to give.

When success is achieved, it’s interesting that those things which were previously considered the price of success -- hard work, effort, discipline, persistence -- also emerge as the key rewards of that very same success.

— Ralph Marston

Give what you've got       Negate the negative

Copyright ©1999 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.