Success Is Not Final

Starting at a young age, we are led to believe that life is fairly linear. 

You go to school, then you specialize your field of study, then you start working, then you get promoted, then you retire and start playing bridge. 

At some point, we start to suspect this is not entirely true… 

The way we discuss failure is much more in line with reality: we are taught to see failure as temporary. Take failure as a lesson, get better, and move on. Failure is a moment in time. 

The thing is: so is success. 

The Lie

In the movies there is a story, a conflict, a resolution and a fade out. We are led to believe that once the resolution – or success – is in place, that is the state for eternity. 

In real life, we don’t get a fade out. We simply move on to the next success, and the next failure. 

Life is a constant of ups and downs. You will have good days and bad days, good months and bad months, good quarters and bad quarters. 

You will make good decisions and bad decisions, throughout your life. 

Sometimes one part of your business will be growing and easy, while another is giving you headaches. 

This is normal, it is the regular balance of life. 

The Actions

What do you do about it?

You never stop learning. 

Work with a view to continuous improvement, and never think that innovation is over. 

The things you did in the bad times, when things went wrong? Also do them in good times: because that is how you got from the bad times to the good times. 

Examine your successes as much as you do your failures, and know what whatever happens today is not a promise that it will happen forever, for better or for worse. 

Most importantly: don’t keep chasing a final goal of “Success and a full stop”. Focus instead of being a little bit better, every single day.