The phrase ‘overnight success’ is all too often applied
by the news and general public but rarely embraced by the people that are the
so-called overnight successes. Rarely
does success happen overnight. A video
on YouTube may go viral and for a brief moment have lots of people viewing it
but it hardly merits the word ‘success.’
Success is typically only achieved over time. Because it is often a lengthily process the
necessary ingredient includes commitment.
Commitment is more than a one-time decision; it is only
proven over time. In a way, you could
say that commitment itself requires a commitment.
I have a number of friends that have decided to change
the direction of their lives and are determined to do something that is
altogether more satisfying, likely has more of a lasting impact and sometimes
provides a financial payout. This last
result, the financial payout, is usually the least of the motivating factors.
While we measure success often in terms of dollars and
cents, most of the successful people didn’t start off with the dollar objective
as the primary motivating factor. If they did, they often would have lacked the
commitment to be able to commit themselves to the long-term effort required to
be successful.
We recently celebrated Thanksgiving and most people are
aware of the story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. However at that first Thanksgiving, of the
eighteen adult women that survived the journey on the Mayflower, thirteen died
the first winter and another died in the spring leaving only four to help
prepare the feast.
I’m an annual pass holder at Walt Disney World here in
Florida and I’ve had the opportunity to go through the exhibit that highlights
both the success as well as the early failure of Walt Disney. He had the commitment to commit himself to
finding the recipe for his ultimate success.
Successful people make the commitment to learn, to grow,
to ask the necessary questions so that they can improve their ideas, their
management style and take advantages of opportunities that come over time. These opportunities also will require a
commitment of time, materials, effort and yes, even more commitment.
