Sometimes success seems like it is miles away. It doesn’t matter what you are doing:
- Starting a business
- Completing School
- Making Money
- Getting out of debt
- or even performing simple tasks
Maybe it’s something you have done a million times before without any trouble, or perhaps your task is something brand new, scary, and everything you thought would go wrong has. Everyone has been in these situations, but they always seem so hopeless when faced with it.
Success Mirages
Does success seem like a mirage in your desert of failure? It seems like bad news is as abundant as sand, and the sight of success looks like an oasis that seems to always move away.
I’ve got good news for you; success is not a mirage, but the direction you are heading may be the wrong one. Sometimes, we are too obsessed with what we see miles away, that we forget to look at what is right around us.
Pushing On A Pull Door
Have you ever been to a store, walked up to the door and pushed? The door looks like it should push open, but you just stand their embarrassed as the sign that clearly says “Pull” in your first language stares you in the face. It didn’t appear until after you had pushed, so you are OK.
Success has a funny way of working the same way. We tend to do things the way we think they should be done, we fear doing things differently, and consequentially we are standing at the door of success pushing when we should be pulling.
Whatever task you are trying to accomplish, you should stop and look around for signs. Are you pushing on a pull door? Success might be staring you right in the face, and you are so concerned with attaining it that you are missing the key to the whole thing!
Stop, Think, Seize Success
Instead of brute forcing your way to success, stop, think, and consider what it might take to achieve your goal. Come up with different paths. The paths to success aren’t always the most direct paths. Sometimes you have to go backwards and go around.
The creators of IMVU learned that the hard way. They came up with the “brilliant” idea of integrating their 3rd party 3D avatar plugin for instant messengers. Ultimately, what they ended up with was a product completely different than what they had originally thought of.
They hit many barriers and wondered why no one wanted their product. Eventually, they realized they were pushing on a pull door, and talked with their customers. It has been a rough road for Eric Ries and his company, but they are finally successful.
What Is Your Barrier
What is holding you back from success? Do you have any advisers? Can you speak with the people who will be directly affected? What is preventing your success? If you look hard enough, you might find out that it is something as simple as pushing on a pull door. Don’t stop when you are so close.