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Wisdom
and help from John Maxwell’s Blog post
The following post
is from a great source – John Maxwell’s company – from today. Click
here for the source article.
THE NOT SO SECRET
PATH TO GREATNESS
The young girl
skipped onto the stage of the dilapidated, half-filled theater hall, her thin
voice competing with the noise of an unruly audience. Midway through the first
verse of her first song, a beer bottle smashed onto the floor just a yard or so
in front of her. The child’s voice quaked momentarily, but she continued to
sing. “The show must go on” mentality had already been ingrained in her. As she
neared the end of the musical number, the girl struggled to find enough breath
to finish her performance. The smoke-filled air reeked of cigarettes and made
it especially hard to sing. The girl missed a couple of notes as the song
ended, curtsied, and then made her exit to a mixture of applause and boos.
When we think of
Academy-Award winner Julie Andrews, we picture her twirling, arms outstretched
against the beautiful backdrop of the Austrian Alps—melodiously singing the
opening stanzas of The Sound of Music. Whether as Maria Von
Trapp or Mary Poppins, Andrews sings and acts so effortlessly that it’s
tempting to assume that she was born a star. It’s easy to overlook her humble
beginnings, the years she spent as a child touring with vaudeville troupes,
performing in seedy auditoriums in front of rowdy, working-class crowds in
Britain.
We imagine
ultra-successful individuals being endowed with almost superhuman talents. In
so doing, we surround greatness with a certain kind of mystique and deem it
somewhat inaccessible to the average person. However, success is not contingent
on having extraordinary, innate ability. Nor does greatness depend upon some
mysterious approach to life. There are no secrets to success—only simple
truths, principles, and disciplines that have been around for thousands of
years. Sadly, we obscure the reality of success by making a number of
misjudgments about it.
The
Overestimated/Underestimated Realities of Success
(1) We overestimate
the person & we underestimate the principles.
Julie Andrews
suffered a mid-career swoon during which a number of her movies flopped.
However, she rebounded to win a Golden Globe in 1982. As she remarks,
“Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.”
Most recently,
throat surgery deprived Andrews of the ability to sing. Undaunted, she moved on
to other pursuits, and has become a successful author of children’s books. When
asked about no longer being able to sing, Andrews is fond of quoting a line
from The Sound of Music, “When God closes a door, somewhere he
opens a window.”
The point is that Julie
Andrews’ stardom cannot be attributed solely, or even primarily, to her
charming personality. Rather, she has been aided by her determined perseverance
and her irrepressible positive attitude—principles that can be applied by
anyone.
(2) We overestimate
the luck & we underestimate the work.
We talk about
someone’s career taking off after making “a big break.” Usually, however, the
big break was preceded by years of dedicated practice. “I've never minded being
disciplined,” says Julie Andrews. “I'd always rather have a quiet evening in
than go to a wild party. Discipline for me has always been the foundation which
leaves me free to fly.”
(3) We overestimate
the skill & we underestimate the stamina.
Julie Andrews’
voice propelled her to stardom, but in her words, “singing has never been
particularly easy for me.” She was not blessed with such immense vocal prowess
that she could bypass intensive practice sessions throughout her career.
"As my mother said, I never sprang out of bed with a glad shout. My voice
needed oiling and then it took off.”
Thought to Ponder
What
overestimated/underestimated realities of success to you find most challenging?
~ Murray Lincoln ~
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