The Quest for Success

Rick Fisher

One of the definitions of success comes from the Oxford Dictionary— ”the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.There is a thin line between success and failure.”

Many of us watched the Olympics where there are many examples of that.

Take for example Downhill Skiing where skiers race down the mountain at speeds that would terrify most of us, to win or lose, in some instances by the blink of an eye. • The athletes have spent years perfecting their skill. • They have practised. • They have reviewed and imprinted the course in their heads before the big race. • Technicians have finely tuned their skis based on the conditions.

Then comes the big event and they must perform. As they race down the course, many perils await them. • They could take a turn too wide and go off the course. • A gust of wind could set them off. • They could catch an edge and fall, in many cases injuring themselves seriously. Adjustments must be made while they go down the course at lightspeed, all in an effort to beat other top competitors who are also going all-out to win.

The task of going for a Gold medal and success when the world is watching is a daunting task that requires intense control of emotions and nerves.

Many athletes at each Games did not win any medals, but they do set personal bests. To them that would represent success and be immensely satisfying. Four years down the road there is always another Olympic Games to test their skills.

Vince Lombardi, a Football coach who epitomized success, has a trophy named after him. He is widely quoted to have said, “practice makes perfect.” That is not exactly what he said . . . it was “Perfect practice makes perfect.”

Thomas Edison is quoted as saying, “I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers says you need 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills, so what you are trying to achieve becomes intuitive.

Please don’t ask me to spend 10,000 hours practising singing; it won’t make any difference.

“I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

- Thomas Edison

In the Figure Skating competition, the skaters have practised their routine hundreds, if not thousands, of times to the point where they are intuitive, then they may slip and fall during their performance.

There are some limitations to Gladwell’s conjecture; some people that we call naturals don’t need anywhere near that amount of practice to become proficient in a skill.

There are many different ways to tackle a problem to solve it; if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Don’t always try to do it the same way over and over again.

While I was at the University of New Brunswick, I was lucky to serve on a number of committees with Dr. Frank Wilson as Chair; he was unusually successful in getting the committees to adopt the proposals he put forward. When I am stymied in a committee, to get the result I want I step back and think for a moment—how would Frank do it?—and adapt my approach to become more successful.

If success were easy, everyone would have it. Sometimes success and failure can be a matter of good or bad luck. • How many times have we had success just by being in the right place and the right time? • How many times have we had success in spite of ourselves? • How many times have we done everything by the book, just like last time, and failed? • How many times have your friends attributed their success to just plain hard work? Sometimes it is better to be good than lucky and sometimes better to be lucky than good. It is easy to snatch defeat from the jaws of

Thousands of motivational speakers and authors have written books we can listen to or read, to enable us to be more successful in our personal lives or businesses. In writing this article, I was amazed that something as simple as Googling “Motivational Quotes” provided a wealth of inspiration from hundreds of authors.

A quote that resonates in me comes from my University Football and Wrestling Coach Jim Born, “Don’t quit on yourself.”

Winston Churchill was one of the greatest motivational speakers of them all. One of his most-quoted quotes is quite simple, “Never, never, never give up!” Edward R. Morrow, the famous war correspondent said, “Winston mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.”

Over our lives, we have all had many successes and failures and in each there is a lesson to be learned. • With success, what did we do right and how can we replicate it to have more success in the future? • With failure, what did we do that we could improve upon so we can have success in the next similar endeavour? Count Ciano is credited with this quote, “Success has many fathers; failure is an orphan.” We all want to be successful or be part of a winning team; the euphoria is tangible when we are watching championship games on TV and the game ends. Most people don’t turn it off immediately . . . they want to watch the participants revel in their victory. Even if your favourite team doesn’t win, there’s always next year.

In British Columbia we are lucky to have an organization called S.U.C.C.E.S.S. that has helped many individuals in all stages of their Canadian journey. While we are lucky to have it, it came from people who discerned that individuals needed help to be successful.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to others for help when you have a problem you are having difficulty solving; you will be surprised at how much help you can get and how much others want to help you succeed. Reaching out for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. s Rick Fisher is a long-time Vancouver entrepreneur in the office furniture and equipment business.

It is easy to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory . . . much harder to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Over our lives, we have all had many successes and failures and in each there is a lesson to be learned.