Is there a timeline for success?
Yes, I firmly believe in the 48 Days model – 48 Days to the Work and Life You Love – that’s enough time to assess where you are, get the advice of other people you trust, identify your best options, research to narrow down to 2 or 3, choose the best one and ACT. That means you now know what to do to be making clear deposits of success toward your dream. Yes, your timeline for success may take a little longer.
Episode #902 June 16, 2023
Hi, this is Dan Miller – and yes you’re listening to the 48 Days Radio show – where each week we take 48 minutes to dive into real life questions about finding your passion, deciding what kind of life you want to live – and then finding or creating work that allows you to show up every day, excited to be able to do something that is meaningful, fulfilling – and profitable. This is where normal, indecision and ambiguity come to die. Welcome to the 48 Days Radio Show.
Thank you for being a listener of this podcast. I love hearing from you and being allowed to think through the questions we all have about finding or creating work that matters, for people who care.
Questions:
Does it really only take 48 Days to be successful? Is 48 days a good timeline for success?
A listener says, “I’m dreaming big and pushing hard, but it’s taking longer than I had hoped.” As I mapped out in 48 Days To the Work and Life You Love, I believe that you can make clear deposits on your dream if you follow the 48 Days timeline for success. It is an adequate time for planning and starting toward the ultimate success that you want to experience, but it may take longer than that to actually get there.What is the meaning of the Stockdale Paradox?
Jim Collins in his book Good to Great, shared what he referred to as the Stockdale Paradox. James Stockdale, who was a former vice presidential candidate, was held captive as a prisoner of war for over seven years during the Vietnam War. During this time, Stockdale was repeatedly tortured. He had no reason to believe he’d be released or even survive. But in that grim reality, he found a way to stay alive by embracing both the helplessness of his situation and a healthy optimism. Now, that’s really important if you can grasp that embracing both the helplessness of a situation and a healthy optimism. And Stockdale explained this balance. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end, which you can never afford to lose, with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be. Now, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to live this out, but that’s a really important principle. See, the Stockdale paradox then confirms the idea that you can have an optimistic expectation and believe you will overcome all difficulties while at the same time confronting the seemingly inevitable negative outcome of your current situation. I’ve had several examples of this in my life. The transition from our beautiful farm and Sanctuary in Tennessee to our gorgeous home in Osprey, Florida is a perfect example.What were Ted Turner and Nelson Mandela really doing when it looked like they were failing?
When Nelson Mandela was put in prison in 1962 at the age of 44, the prison warden sneered, this is where you will die. And of course, we know Nelson Mandela was assigned to grueling physical labor. But he decided not to use this as an excuse to abandon his exercise regime Monday through Thursday. He was released from prison on February 11, 1990 at the Age of 72 and then course went on to serve as the first president of a democratic South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Nelson Mandela had been in prison for 27 and a half years. Years later when he was asked how he survived all those years in prison, he responded, I wasn’t surviving. I was preparing. I shared this story on the Wisdom of the Sages Podcast a few weeks ago. Several years ago, I saw Ted Turner being interviewed on CNN. The interviewer asked Ted how he kept going when his sailing team lost year after year and his baseball team was in last place for four years before going on to win the World Series. How could he keep going when he seemed to be losing again and again? Without any hesitation, Ted said, I wasn’t losing. I was learning how to win.Why your own Hero’s Journey is giving you the opportunity you need.
Joseph Campbell really kind of crystallized it using a lot of Carl Young’s theory about how our lives develop. But the hero’s journey is the common template of stories that we hear that involve a hero who goes on an adventure and ends its victorious in some kind of decisive crisis and then comes home changed or transformed. You are on your own hero’s journey. Listen in for my hero’s journey, when I found myself $430,000 in debt and how it led me on the journey to where I am today. My timeline for success from $430,000 to today was a lot more than 48 days.Success doesn’t show up all at once. It shows up as a result of a whole lot of small steps to take us in that direction. It’s a stepping stone process.During the whole process, don’t stop dreaming about what you really want and be super clear on what you’re moving toward. Robert Greene, author of 48 Laws of Power, says there are two types of time in our lives: Dead Time when we’re passive and waiting and Alive Time when we’re learning and preparing for the future we want. Alive Time puts you on a faster Timeline for Success. Maybe we just need to reframe what we’re going through. This may be your opportunity to learn how to win. You can continue making deposits in your success journey even if current circumstances don’t look like success from the outside.
Success is a journey, not a destination.Keep dreaming big and pushing hard. Trust the process. If you have a clear dream and are making deposits, you are already successful. Follow your own timeline for success.
Key Points When Establishing Your Timeline for Success
- 48 days is a valid timeline for success. It is enough time to dream, imagine, clarify, create a plan of action, and act. That means you are confidently making deposits toward your dream. This doesn’t necessarily mean you fully accomplish that dream in that period of time.
- Recognize that regardless of how negative your circumstances seem to be, you can be learning and preparing like Ted Turner and Nelson Mandela were.
- Failure occurs only if you are in the passive patience mode.
- Proactive patience can keep you moving toward your dream even if circumstances are out of your control.
- The Stockdale Paradox allows us to endure and dream at the same time.
Quotation:
[click_to_tweet tweet=”“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” Earl Nightingale @48daysteam” quote=”“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” Earl Nightingale”]
Resource:
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