Life's Like This — A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame others for his failures. I believe it would be safe to assume that we all go through life hoping, perhaps even dreaming of finding success in our life's ambitions. The path to success is often riddled with obstacles and a series of setbacks that keep us from achieving our goals. And with those setbacks, disappointment and depression can occur causing us to doubt if our dreams and aspirations will ever materialize. At times like this, it is easy to give up hope, to throw in the towel and quit pursuing our goals. Quite often, we are quick to blame others for our failures rather than examining our role in our inability to realize our dreams. Once we start down the path of blaming others, we will find increased difficulty in achieving success until we remove the blinders that hinder our personal growth.
Years ago, early in my career as a healthcare administrator, I found myself striving to reach goals and objectives I not only set for myself, but that were expected of me by my employer. But in addition to those goals, I had a vision of what I hoped to accomplish, of standards of performance that I not only expected of myself, but of those that were responsible to me. Upon reflection, I can now look back and see the unfairness of my expectations. Those responsible to me did have a responsibility to perform their duties faithfully and in accordance with their job description and corporate policy, but they were not required to share the same ideals that I embraced. I could only hope to influence them by demonstrating integrity and professionalism in the performance of my duties. But when my vision failed to materialize, I quickly cast blame on my employer that failed to give me the resources I needed and on key staff members who were not diligent in the performance of their duties. If truth be told, even though the nature of my industry was demanding and I was faced with an inordinate amount of regulations, the human factor was critical to my success. Once I realized the importance of this crucial element, I was able to piece together a bridge of understanding that led to future success.
It doesn't matter where you are looking to find your success. Whenever there are people involved, it is imperative to discover the missing links that can keep you from achieving the success you have been striving for. Failure does not need to be embedded in your life. Quite often, the missing link is effective two-way communication — it cannot and should not be one-sided. Understanding this can be the force that can lead to better understanding and be the life-changer that can help you to finally realize the success you have longed for. It doesn't matter what challenge you may be facing or type of relationship you are seeking to improve, effective two-way communication is paramount to any success. Life is full of choices. We can choose to blame others for our failures or we can tap into our bank of wisdom and exercise those attributes that foster personal growth. The blinders that hinder our personal growth are removable. We just need to make the choice to replace them with a lens of hope that can build a bridge to success.
Life's Like This 