Tip #8
“It is not a fish until it is on the bank.” Irish Proverb
This one seems pretty obvious: when you go fishing it doesn’t count as an actual caught fish until you have actually caught it. This is so self-evident, but we make this kind of error in our lives all the time. It’s one thing to anticipate getting something done or having a particular thing in our possession, but it is not the same as having it. For this to happen we need to plan, as well as, execute our plan. We then must continue to act and even alter the action or actions to more effectively obtain the goal. We need a vision, and we need action.
Did you know that if a young person, say, a 20 year-old, were to save $100 each week for ten years, and then simply left that money in an interest earning account, without adding any more money to it, by the time this person turns 65 years old the money, the initial $52,000, will have grown to be one million dollars. Most things are not rocket science, nor are they about “get-rich-quick” schemes. What is true is that the road to greatness begins with powerful and bold dreams, complimented by continuous action or actions. Mere idle dreams, alone, do not bring about powerful and bold results. Actions, carried out consistently and with precision, sometimes with even mundane and laborious relentlessness, and sustained with a dogged underpinning vision, is what will always carry the day. Incremental actions taken over a sustained period of time can and will produce results. There’s a very old joke as to how one can get to Carnegie Hall. The punch line: Practice, Practice, Practice!
The point is what it does take is discipline, and often some refinement and adjustments along the way, to produce excellent results. What I love about baseball is that a great batting average is in the 300’s. This will get you into the major leagues. What this really means is that the batter strikes out, fouls out, or gets grounded out, 7 out of 10 times, while making it to base 3 out of 7. To do this required lots of rigorous training and skill development. In real life we want to “hit the ball” each and every single time, and do it from the start. We want perfection; and we want it instantly.
There was study that had married couples rate their happiness – their self-assessment of happiness – early on in their marriage. Ten years later, these same couples were asked to rate their happiness of their relationship currently. Those that initially rated their marriage as “unhappy” or “very unhappy” and remained together, over 70% of these couples later rated their marriage as being “satisfying” or “very satisfying.” This was with or without any counseling or external assistance. You might say, Hanging in there turned out to be valuable. One can also suspect these couples had obtained some sort of growth curve over those 10 years, as well as, gleamed some wisdom via the work they put into being individuals and married people that served them regarding marital happiness.
Not to end on a negative note, but there is the old adage: “The road to hell is paved with good intention.” So here’s a suggestion: Go catch a fish. Catch as many as you wish. And enjoy.