Success is not built on success. It’s built on failure. It’s built on frustration. Sometimes its built on catastrophe

Success is not built on success. It’s built on failure. It’s built on frustration. Sometimes it’s built on catastrophe. – Sumner Redstone

It's not how many times you get knocked down, it's how many times you get back up. Be sure to persevere!

What does that mean?
This quote seems to be the story of my life! The quote implies that strings of successes are the exception, not the rule. Life tends to twist and turn too much for you to succeed the same way over and over again. What worked last time often fails the next time. Why? Because the situation is subtly different.

Sometimes you get a diminished return, other times it just doesn’t work. And then there are the times when the whole thing crashes and burns. The trick, I believe the quote implies, is to remember that success is still possible. Like a Phoenix arising from the ashes, you need to learn from your mistakes, get back up, and press on.

Why is perseverance important?  
Perseverance is the fine art of getting back up every time you’re knocked down. Hopefully, you learn from the experience each time, and are not just repeating the same mistake over and over. While that may technically be perseverance, it isn’t very bright, is it?

With perseverance, you can eventually get pretty much anything done that you can imagine. You may decide part way there that it isn’t worth the effort that is required. And sometimes, that’s the proper outcome. Just be sure to remember and give full weight your reasons for starting before you hang it up.

Where can I apply this in my life?
Perseverance is what gets things done. Yes, sometimes you get lucky and you get it on the first or second try, but the rest of the time it’s a slog. Uphill. In the rain and sleet and snow. At least that’s how it feels to me some days.

I got kicked out of College for not paying enough attention to my school work. I got back in not because I was bright, nor because I was rich or good looking. I got back in because I persevered. As soon as I could, I re-applied for admission.

In the mean time I worked and took classes at a local Junior College. I persevered for the mandatory semester off and was accepted for readmission. I then persevered even more and re-took the classes I failed in, and took a summer semester to get the extra classes in to finish the my degree.

And if I thought College was tough, my love life was even tougher. Lots of missteps, lots of breakups (mostly because I was an ass), and lots of heartache. I even managed to rack up a failed marriage. But I persevered. I knew there was someone out there for me. Eventually, I found her and we’ve been going strong for nearly 20 years.

So, what projects have you completed? What projects are you presently working on? What projects are on the “back burner?” What projects are in limbo or abandoned? Grab some paper and write a few of each down. Note that I use the word project in the broadest possible manner. I would consider your love life is a project, whether it be finding one or improving what you have.

Is there a pattern that differentiates the ones that are done or you are still actively working on compared to the ones that are languishing? If you don’t see a pattern, pick a stalled or stopped project and work on getting it back on track.

For me, it’s often my level of interest or if I’ve been distracted by something shiny. Other times, I’m interrupted by something very urgent and never get back to it. What is it that takes the wind out of your sails?

Once you have an idea what tends to get you side-tracked, think about what you can do to get back into the groove. That’s the main reason why each project I start has a couple of powerful “Why” statements. If you have strong reasons, it tends to be easier to get the project restarted after a setback.

Write the best three ideas down and think about them for a moment. Do any of them jump out as being particularly good for getting you to persevere and get back into the project? Is one going to be easy to remember or useful across multiple projects?

Now that you have a ‘winner,’ all that’s left is to put it into practice. Grab the project you want to get back to and use your idea to get you started again. Most importantly, take action. Find a part of the project you can do right this instant. Even if it’s just sending yourself an e-mail to get started in the morning.

From: Twitter, @tonyrobbins
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/sumnerreds227812.html
Photo by familymwr