Are You Experienced: The Road To The Top Ain't Pretty

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." Thomas Edison

To live to your full potential is a feat that most never realize. The truth is we often become comfortable with mild success and end the experience of growth there. When we begin to attempt great feats in life it is often met with great risk and perhaps thats part of the factor the full potential of our abilities may never be realized.

What I have come to find out is experience and attitude is the largest factor to achieving greatness. Attitude can be an inhibitor or attitude could be just the opposite. A positive attitude can go along way but theres more. Our attitude towards everything we do should be intelligent, calculated and with deliberate intent. You see the people who change things in this world are those whos attitude is somewhat thickheaded. They are often so convinced in ther belief... in their KNOWING that their shear will creates the way to things that were impossible for others before them.

This is where the magic lies. The magic is found in the focus and will of a person with an idea. This combined with a spirit that isn't afraid to experience failure and always put in hardwork is invaluable.

You can be the smartest person with more degrees than a thermometer from half a dozen Ivy League universities and not achieve your full potential. Studies have often showed that these most educated sevants fail at what a college drop out later achieved. Does this mean to drop out of school? Of course not. College is a great place to begin your network and find discipline. The factor that failed one and succeded for the another was the experience and spirit within the individual that made it happen or not happen.

This story is one of my favorites. A General was doing an inspection of two armored regiments to decide which one he was going to take into battle.

The first he inspected had meticulously clean tanks that were showroom ready. The men in this regiment were the sharpest dressed, clean cut, polite and impeccably uniform. They knew the tables behind their equipment without flaw and studied war strategy at West Point and could recite the entire history of the United States military without fault. Sure they were fresh to war but hey... they looked good.

The second group he inspected had beat up tanks that had been repaired countless times. The group of men within this regiment were rough around the edges and not the kind you'd want to see your daughter bring home. This group had seen battle so many times the roar of the machine gun didn't make them flinch. When they were fighting in freezing climates and the gun jammed everyone knew what to do... piss on it. The warmth of their urine thawed the gun to make it work again. Sure it was the last thing you thought you'd see in battle; a man standing over a machine gun with his... you get the drift. But it worked. Their experience was invaluable.

After the General made his inspection he knew experience just by the countenance of the regiments men. As you might have guessed he chose the second band of rag tag men because he knew how deceiving appearances can be. Nothing matches experience.

The idea to be presented is to stop over analyzing your next move and make it. You are going to fail. Failure is inevitable if you are ever going to succeed at something great. What will determain your success is your ability to pick yourself up and figure out a better way than before. Learn from your mistakes and create your own path.

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." -- Albert Einstein

David Azua
www.davidazua.com