“Achievement is not always success, while reputed failure often is. It is honest endeavor, persistent effort to do the best possible under any and all circumstances.” ~Orison Swett Marden
There’s a difference between a momentary benchmark and a lifetime mark.
It’s the difference between winning an Oscar for one stellar performance, and never winning one, yet being honored with a life-time achievement award for an entire body of work.
Maybe rather than looking to achieve something you might consider instead the value of small daily accomplishments as indicators pointing the way to achievement.
But I don’t think trying to race down that road will lead to an internal sense of achievement, let alone achievement itself.
Walking the road, noticing the signs, feeling pleased with the smaller accomplishments of daily living—those are the real steps that lead to a life of achievement.
What good is it to be a successful doctor, lawyer, Indian chief, with a big bank account and admired by others, if you feel as though you haven’t done enough, made enough, impressed enough?
There is no amount of external admiration that will compensate for an internal lack of self-esteem, no amount of validation that can make up for lack of self-admiration.
Start patting yourself on the back. It’s twice as powerful as a pat from someone else.
“Do not let your grand ambitions stand in the way of small but meaningful accomplishments.” ~Bryant H. McGill
