Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement

under the promptings of a brave and determined spirit.
—
Mark Twain
There can be no great courage where there is no
confidence or assurance, and half the battle is in the
conviction that we can do what we undertake.
—
Orison Swett Marden
Every successful person has experienced countless temporary set-
backs, obstacles, and even outright defeats, in the course of his or
her life. But it has been the ability to respond positively and con-
structively to these defeats and to bounce back that ultimately has
assured success. This quality of bouncing rather than breaking will
determine your success as well.
Dr. Abraham Zaleznik of the Harvard Business School did a
study some years ago on the role that 
disappointment
plays in life.
Many people had researched and written on motivation and its rela-
tionship to success. But Zaleznik was the first person who looked at
the other side of the coin.
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THINKING AHEAD
If you are a normal, intelligent person, you will organize each
area of your life to avoid failure and disappointment as much as
possible. You will think ahead and anticipate what could go
wrong. You will then take the necessary precautions to guard
against setbacks and problems. You will weigh and balance differ-
ent options. You will select the course of action that offers the
greatest likelihood of success.
Nonetheless, no matter how well you think and plan, things
will not always turn out the way you expect. Murphy’s Law says:
“Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Of all the things that can go
wrong, the worst possible thing will go wrong at the worst possible time
and cost the most amount of money.”
Cohen’s Law then adds:
“Mur-
phy was an optimist!”
Therefore, disappointment comes unbidden. Disappointment
comes in spite of your best efforts to avoid it. Disappointment is in-
evitable and unavoidable. As sure as the sun rises in the east and
sets in the west, you are going to experience disappointments in life.
And the more goals you set and the more things you try, the more
difficulties and problems you will have.
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