Let’s look at some common success myths:
- We believe success is impossible, so we criticize it. Because we
want to believe that life should be easy, we assume anything that is difficult must be impossible. Then when success eludes us we are tempted to throw in the towel and say, ‘Who wants success anyway?’ And if success is achieved by anyone we consider less worthy than ourselves, we really get ‘steamed’. - We believe success is mystical, so we search for it. The problem is, we want the rewards without paying the price. Seth Godin says, ‘We need to stop shopping for lightning bolts. You do not win an Olympic medal with a few weeks of intensive training. There’s no such thing as an overnight opera sensation. Great companies [and great churches] do not spring up overnight…every great thing has been built in exactly the same way: bit by bit, step by step, little by little’.
- We believe success comes by chance, so we hope for it. We say, ‘She just happened to be in the right place at the right time.’ Wrong! The chances of that happening are about as good as your chances of winning the Lottery – 18 million to one. If you are really serious about success, you will agree with one small business owner who had a sign posted that read: ‘The 57 Rules of Success.’ Rule One: Deliver the goods. Rule Two: The other 56 do not matter.’
- We believe success is the result of opportunity, so we wait for it. Many people who work hard but do not seem to get anywhere, believe that the only thing they need is ‘a break.’ Their motto is, ‘if only.’ If only my boss would cut me some slack… if only our church was in a better area of town… if only I had start-up capital… if only I had married someone different. Sound familiar? People who do nothing more than wait for opportunity, are neither able to see it or seize it when it comes.
- We think success comes from having leverage, so we work for it. This idea is reinforced by the words of people like industrialist Andrew Carnegie: ‘Success is the power with which to acquire whatever one demands of life.’ So we take that a step further, assuming all successful people have taken advantage of others to get to where they are, and begin to look for ways to manipulate people too. We believe we can force our way to success, but it does not work.
- We believe success comes from connections, so we strive to make them. People who believe in connections think they would have ‘had it made,’ if only they had been born into the right family or met the right person. But those beliefs are misplaced. Knowing good people has its rewards. But connections alone will not improve your life if you are off track.
Do you know that using The Healing Codes will help you overcome YOUR Success Myths?
In A Closer Walk Catherine Marshall writes, ‘One morning last week God gave me an assignment for one day. I was to go on a “fast” from criticism. I was not to criticize anybody or anything. ‘For the first half of the day I simply felt a void, almost as if I’d been wiped out as a person. This was especially true at lunch. I listened to the others and kept silent. In our talkative family nobody seemed to notice. Bemused, I noted that the Federal Government, the judicial system, and the institutional church could apparently get along just fine without my personal observations! 
Everybody wants to be thin, but nobody wants to diet. Everybody wants more money, but nobody wants more work. Successful people form the habit of doing things unsuccessful people do not like to do. The bookends of success are commitment and consistency! Without commitment you will never start. Without consistency you will never finish. Getting started is the hard part. That is because we’ve so many reasons not to start. So, here are some helpful suggestions:
ease the journey. Read this comforting account about Dealing with Grief.
Have you seen the t-shirt that says, ‘I’m talking and I can’t shut up!’ Whenever you’re dating you can talk for hours. But when you’re married, unless you work at it, conversation sometimes becomes superficial and leads to disagreements. God says, ‘…be willing to listen and slow to speak…’ because there’s an art to communicating: 
Jean Kerr says, ‘Getting married is like buying something you’ve admired for ages in a shop window. You love it, but when you get it home it doesn’t always go with everything!’ Paul says, ‘…live in…harmony…’ Here are three suggestions: 
An agency once created an advert for a Rolls Royce that said: ‘At 60 mph the loudest noise in the new Rolls-Royce is the electric clock.’ When they ran the ad by a company executive he smiled and said, ‘I guess we’ve got to do something about that clock!’ Never stop trying to do it better!
Are your spiritual and emotional needs being met? If not, it’s time you stopped taking care of others and started taking care of yourself before you burn out. You can’t travel quietly through life hoping others will see when your plate’s full. Speak up, or they’ll just keep pouring on more problems and responsibilities! Personal empowerment begins by taking control of your life. Overloaded people fail; they always have and they always will. They fail at marriage, ministry and management. They fail at parenting, partnership and professional endeavors.
