Words of wisdom for this week.
“No one knows what he can do until he tries.”
~ Syrus
Years ago, Lionel Tiger wrote a book called: “Optimism, the Biology of Hope”. In it, Tiger puts forward the premise, after a great deal of research, that people who are optimistic tend to live longer and get sick less often than people who are pessimistic and negative.
So in the middle we have realistic. What is realistic? No one knows. If you would have told Emerson, Bell, Gates or numerous others that what they were experimenting with was unrealistic they would all have had to agree with you. So why did they continue the relentless pursuit of something new in the face of uncertain outcomes, constant discouragement, tremendous skepticism and public scorn? Because they didn’t know what couldn’t be done. They didn’t know what was impossible. They kept at it not because they knew for certain that their efforts would sooner or later pay off, they kept at it because of their tremendous optimism. If they had been realistic, it could have been years later before we had a telephone, electricity or the tremendous potential of technology.
Have you ever attempted something that you believed in for no obvious reason? What did people around you say? Be realistic. It can’t be done. No one has ever done it. Etc.
In my opinion, being realistic is just another form of being negative. Who knows what isn’t possible? No one. The only way we determine what is or isn’t possible is to try. Problem is, many people give up just when they are on the verge of success. So their reaction is “I guess you were right, it is impossible. I was being unrealistic.”
I have no idea what I can do until I give it a shot. I am currently working on a murder mystery. Of the 80 plus books I have written none have been in this genre. I have never written one and don’t know if I can write one, but I won’t know until I put in the effort, time and energy to try. I can hear some of you now – why even try if you don’t know whether or not you will ever succeed or if you if it will ever sell? My response is – I know I can’t succeed if I don’t at least try and begin. I have zero chance of success if I don’t try. If I fail … so be it. If I succeed … so be it. Life is not about outcomes or results, but activities, progress, learning and growing. I love Oliver Wendell Holmes’s quote: “I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as to what direction we are moving. To reach the port of Heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. But we must sail and not drift or lie at anchor.”
For me, that says it all, my friends.
What are you putting off, not trying or believe is unrealistic in your life? I’ll leave you with one question: How do you know?
I’m offering Holiday special savings on my best selling book, The Ancient Scrolls only $5.00 normally $15.00. Just go to my shopping cart and click on Monthly Special Savings. Tell you what – for every order this week I’ll also send you my latest Ebook free – “ASK, The critcal sales ability for consistent sales success” – a great sales tool to learn how to ask better sales questions. (Regular price $9.95)