Successful people maintain a positive focus in life, no matter the circumstances around them. They stay focused on their past successes than on past failures. They are proactive in the pursuit of their chosen objectives. They don’t rest till success comes their way. Remember, that the average Olympian trains four hours a day at least 310 days a year for six years before succeeding. Getting better begins with workouts everyday. By 7 a.m. most athletes have done more than what many people do all day. Given equal talent the better trained athlete can generally outperform the one who is casual and not serious. For example, four years before Olympics Greg Zmeskal had probably done every flip in her Gymnastic routine at least 20,000 times. Training works, but it not easy or simple. Swimmers train on an average of 10 miles a day at a speed of 5 MPH in the pool. Although most of us will never become Olympic athletes, we can become world class in whatever we do, by putting in disciplined effort to excel at on chosen profession. Tom Boyer was a clarinet player. Because he was willing to pay the price of 2 hours of practice every day even during family vacations, he consistently climbed up the ladder and won competitions in his state. One day, a national competition programme, there was a vacancy of a clarinet player to play a solo. When Tom offered his services, the orchestra conductor looked at him and said: “Can you play it ten times in a row without a mistake in the practice room to get a chance of getting on stage?”
Tom Boyer played 3 times without a mistake. The fourth he missed. He started again and it went on for 45 minutes before he could manage through a 30 second solo ten times without a mistake. He played a solo perfectly in the competition and later landed a spot in the state orchestra for almost a decade. Successful people just don’t drift to the top. Getting there requires focused action, personal discipline and lots of energy. One of the problems for people with poor habits is that the results of their bad habits don’t show up until much later in life. When we develop a chronic bad habit, life will eventually unfold the required consequences. We may not like the consequences but life will deliver them. Robert J. Ringer, author of “Million Dollar Habits” said: “Success is a matter of understanding and religiously practising specific simple habits that always lead to success.”
– T.G.L. Iyer
