Saturday, June 30, 2012

Never Never Never Give Up

Today is the first day of the second half of 2012. How time flies. I think it's a good idea to take some time out to look back at the first half of the year. As you review and reflect, you may wish to ask yourself some of the following questions regarding the last 6 months.
  • When did I fail in my goals? (why?)
  • When did I give love?
  • Where did I receive love?
  • What Habits and life patterns have I formed?
  • When did I feel most alive? Most drained of life?
  • When did I have the greatest sense of belonging? Least sense of belonging?
  • When was I most free? Least free?
  • When was I most creative? Least creative?
  • When did I feel most fully myself? Least myself?
  • When did I feel most whole? Most fragmented?
My business partner and coach Eric Bailey sent the following email with a list of people who didn't quit and finally succeeded. I was encouraged by each of them and would like to share with you.

Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he finally succeeded.

Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him hopeless as a composer.

Colonel Sanders had the construction of a new road put him out of business in 1967. He went to over 1,000 places trying to sell his chicken recipe before he found a buyer interested in his 11 herbs and spices. Seven years later, at the age of 75, Colonel Sanders sold his fried chicken company for a finger-lickin' $15 million!

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. Disney also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.

Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and didn't read until he was seven. His teacher described him as "mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams." He was expelled and refused admittance to Zurich Polytechnic School. The University of Bern turned down his Ph.D. dissertation as being irrelevant and fanciful.

The movie Star Wars was rejected by every movie studio in Hollywood before 20th-Century Fox finally produced it. It went on to be one of the largest grossing movies in film history. 

Louis Pasteur was only a mediocre pupil in undergraduate studies and ranked 15 out of 22 in chemistry. When General Douglas MacArthur applied for admission to West Point, he was turned down, not once but twice. But he tried a third time, was accepted and marched into the history books. 

After Fred Astaire's first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, said, "Can't act! Slightly bald! Can dance a little!" Astaire kept that memo over the fireplace in his Beverly Hills home.

So what about you????

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