Success is built upon a mountain of mistakes. The higher that mountain, the greater your success.
As crazy as it may sound, you want success to take a long time. The longer you pursue success, the more you will learn from your mistakes and failures and the more expert you become in whatever you do.
Those who pursue success for a long time, build a very strong foundation for success. Thus, the longer success takes, the greater and more permanent the foundation upon which your success will be built.
We live in a world of instant gratification. This desire to achieve immediate success can make people impatient. Patience is a very important Rich Habit that self-made millionaires possess. Without patience, most will quit on themselves and on their dreams.
In my Rich Habits Study, it took the average self-made millionaire, who was pursuing a dream, twelve years to become rich and successful. That’s along time and a lot of patience. Why did it take so long?
Success takes a long time because there is so much that must be learned. Learning what to do and what not to do takes many years. When you finally begin to figure things out, you make fewer and fewer mistakes. Through repetitive practice, you eventually become more proficient in what you do – you become an expert. Expertise takes a long time.
Those who seek instant success realize little success because the foundation upon which their success is built is weak and shallow and they never develop an expertise in what they do. These individuals suffer from Bright Shiny Object Syndrome, a Poor Habit in which you are easily distracted, lose focus and move on to any new thing which grabs your attention.
What makes any great idea great, is success. And success requires a laser-like focus along with relentless persistence. This takes time. According to my research, this focus and persistence begins to pay dividends after about twelve years.
Never quit on your dreams and your goals. At some point you will figure out what to do and what not to do. But you will never succeed if you quit on yourself and your dreams. You will never devote enough time to figure things out and you will never grow into the person you need to be in order for success to visit you.
The longer success takes, the longer it lasts.
About Thomas C. Corley
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