Getting Back on Track

by Mark S. Fulton

His first attempt at business didn’t go well. So he decided to try a new direction and went into politics. He ran for the state legislature but his campaign failed. So he decided to try business again. No go. The pressure of successive failures and the death of his sweetheart led to a nervous breakdown.

After winning four terms in his state legislature, he decided to run for Congress. Three times he had to step aside for other party members. On the fourth try he was elected but was unable to gain distinction.

Disillusioned with politics, he returned home and operated a successful law practice. A try for the U.S. Senate ended in failure, as did a shot at becoming his party’s candidate for vice president. Another run for the U.S. Senate, another setback.

Two years later, his fortunes changed. In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected sixteenth president of the United States of America. You could say he was the Energizer Bunny of American politics.

Here at the midway point of 2001 it’s a good time to evaluate your success at pursuing your goals for the year. I’m guessing that you might be behind schedule on a few of them. Maybe you haven’t started on some others. Don’t fret. Just like Honest Abe, you gotta to keep a’going.

Rather than throwing in the towel, this is the time for making some mid-course corrections. First, consider the goals you’ve set for yourself this year and determine whether they are still important to your future. Then identify what obstacles have prevented you from staying on course.

Here are some likely roadblocks and what to do about them:

Lack of focus - “If you chase two rabbits, both will escape,” the old saying goes. Being “too busy” can cause you to be unproductive by fragmenting your attention. Check your priorities and make sure they are in line with your goals. Then examine your schedule for activities that aren’t relevant to your objectives. Put them at the bottom of your “to do” list.

Inadequate commitment - Abe Lincoln said it best: “Your own resolution to success is more important than any other thing.” How dedicated are you to the goals you have set for yourself? Are you ambivalent about or averse to any of the steps you must take to reach them? If you can identify the greatest hindrance in your path to an objective, resolve to conquer it first. If you can’t, the rest won’t matter.

Unwillingness to change - “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten,” says motivational speaker Zig Ziglar. Inflexible attitudes, unyielding opinions and rigid thinking can lead you straight off a cliff. Business guru Tom Peters writes, “Today, loving change, tumult, even chaos is a prerequisite for survival, let alone success.” How much change is involved in meeting your objectives? Don’t be afraid of the disruption change may bring—welcome it.

Missing skills - Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle wrote, “Man is a tool-using animal ... without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.” The folks at Nightingale-Conant, one of the top purveyors of self-help products would say a hearty “Amen” to that. Perhaps you need to brush up on your people skills, time management or sales strategies. Doing so could mean the difference between hitting and missing your target.

Negative attitude - “No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit,” wrote Helen Keller. How is your attitude about your goals? If you’re feeling down about your progress toward them, take this advice from St. Francis of Assisi: “Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was laid before Abraham Lincoln for his signature. Lincoln twice picked up the pen and twice laid it down. “I have been shaking hands since nine o’clock this morning and my right arm is almost paralyzed,” he said to the secretary of state.

“If my name ever goes into history,” Lincoln continued, “it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign the Proclamation, all who examine the document hereafter will say, ‘He hesitated.’” He then picked up the pen again and slowly and firmly wrote his signature.

I don’t believe that Abraham Lincoln could have been the great leader he was without the lessons he learned from his failures. In many ways, those disappointments equipped him to make difficult decisions during one of the darkest periods in our nation’s history. Failures can be stumbling blocks or stepping stones. The choice is yours.

If you are at a place where you feel a little shaky about your pursuit of your goals, take a moment and consider all that you have accomplished up to now and the great opportunities that lie ahead of you. Then sharpen your focus, renew your commitment, make some changes, pursue new skills, alter your attitude—and get back in the race.

Copyright 2001 © Mark S. Fulton