Accomplishing the extraordinary (and impossible)

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What makes people who accomplish extraordinary things extraordinary?

Is it living free of commonly-held beliefs about success and failure?

How many times are you willing to try something before you succeed at it? Three, three hundred, three thousand?

How many years are you willing to work on a worthwhile goal? One, 10, 20?

People give up after a few attempts at something, even if their life depends on succeeding. Smokers, who want to quit, who know quitting will add years to their lives, try to quit 3.8 times before giving up. Contrast that with Lightbulb inventor Thomas Edison who reportedly failed 1,000 times before succeeding. How many more times was he willing to go beyond try 1001?

Extraordinary people who accomplish the extraordinary know success is often 20 or 30 years away. They settle in for that long haul focusing their efforts on what they must do today to get to tomorrow. This way, time becomes their ally, not their enemy. For they know the longer they’re at it, the closer they come to success.

Other allies: patience, perseverance, luck. In time, success is delivered.

In May, at one of our twice-monthly Skype sessions (which are free to all who wish to attend), a new regular attendee proffered the notion that a congressional convention may be needed to make our innovation a reality. It may just come to that.

Changing the world’s economic system is a mother of a task. It’s not going to happen over night. It’s not going to take a few years. If overturning Citizens United is a bear, what could be said for installing a better socioeconomic system?

How about this: patience, perseverance, luck. What we’re doing is extraordinary. Thankfully, we’re in good company, with strong allies.

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