78. PAYING THE SUCCESS PRICE

Thomas Edison performed thousands of experiments to get to a desired end point. He would say, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." He also said, "The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls and looking like hard work." * One artist credited his success with his determination to do 10 more drawings each time his art instructor would assign the class a certain number of sketches. One football great came 15 minutes early to practice and stayed 15 minutes late. The result? Thirty minutes a day made the difference between ho-hum and greatness.
 
It's easy to assume that the success of those who rise to the top is due to some kind of special gift, or that they were just lucky. But in most cases that is not true. The real talent is the will to pay a higher price in personal effort than the competition. The winners in life may make everything look easy but behind that look of grace and ease are thousands of hours of fumbling, blundering, losing, awkwardness, toil, error, and sweat. Hard work is the alchemy for success.
 
A probe into the history of any successful person will reveal these common themes:
 
• Make a plan to achieve a goal, and then do it with urgency, enthusiasm, and persistence.
• There must be the will to prepare to win.
• Success is never final and failure never fatal; you must simply move on with the commitment to succeed. There are no short cuts, just long work.
• Adapt and change as necessary to achieve the goal.
• Don't fear competition or losing; use them as opportunities to learn and become better.
• Every day improve.
• There are no secrets, there is only work.
• If you want to win, you've got to leave everything on the playing floor.
• Desire and intention are the most dynamic of our faculties; they do work.
• Be willing to make the effort, pay the price, and get at it—now.
Here are some aphorisms that repeat these lessons in clever ways:
• You're never a loser until you quit trying.
• Triumph is the result of a little "umph" added to "try."
• The only time you can't afford to fail is the last time you try.
• The doors of opportunity are marked "PUSH."
• The smallest action is greater than the greatest intention.
• Ideas bring in nothing unless carried out.
• The only way to coast is by going downhill.
 
Larry Bird, who eventually turned out to be one of the greatest NBA basketball players of all time, admitted to very little natural talent. But did he work! One time, when playing an NBA all-star game, he had to step to the line for free throws. At this point in his career he was shoot­ing over 92% in free-throws and leading the entire league. He missed both shots. Reporters following him to the locker room afterward noted Larry's sullen attitude in spite of the fact that his team had won the game. They assumed it was the missed free throws and asked him why he thought he missed them, Larry responded, "It's my fault. I didn't take my 100 free-throw practice shots today."
 
Preparation, practice, determination, effort, belief in oneself, willingness to adapt, changing, and always learning and improving are the keys to success. Ernest Hemingway reportedly went back through his manuscript of The Old Man and the Sea eighty times, grooming and editing it. Virgil spent twelve years working on the Aeneid and was perfecting it up until he died. Leonardo da Vinci spent twelve years on The Last Supper and often would be so absorbed in the work he would forget to eat. Michelangelo's The Last Judgment was preceded by more than two thousand preliminary sketches.

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​We can make a difference, we can become better people, we can improve the world, we can be the healthiest our genetic potential permits, we can achieve and succeed. It all directly depends upon how much fuel we are willing to put in the engine.
 
Life is about challenge, not just to survive, but to survive well. Mediocrity can become greatness if we are simply willing to pay the price of hard work.
 
*Go to thomasedison.org for an astonishing account of the amount of effort put forth by America's most prolific inventor.