The Formula
Wouldn’t it be great if we could discover the formula for success that would work for everyone, and turn it into a pill or diet plan or best selling book? I bet we’d never have to work again. A lot of people must think this is possible. How else can we explain the multi-billion dollar advertising and telemarketing efforts to convince, direct, and motivate us to do or buy something that will make our lives better? Judging from the daily bombardment of self-help and life-transforming products, it must be working. Haven’t we all become slimmer, healthier, more desirable, more intelligent, more successful and happier people? Haven’t we?
The sheer volume and persistence of self-improvement come-ons boggles the mind, especially given the fact that the secret formula for attaining any of our life goals is really no secret at all, nor is it new. Best of all, it is free! In fact, it is a formula whose ingredients are the same for every person who has ever lived. Yet it allows for as many individual and unique applications as there are people. Have I piqued your interest yet? If so, just click on my video and send in…. Who am I kidding? This is a BLOG, not an ad. I’m not selling anything, only asking for a few minutes of your time.
Having settled that, what kind of “formula” am I talking about? Simply put, the formula for success in any endeavor lies in two words: prepare and adjust. That’s it? That’s it. If each of us puts these two verbs in the center of all of our dreams, hopes and ambitions, our chances of being successful will multiply astronomically. Of that I am convinced. But can it really be that easy, that simple? Yes, and no. As an idea it couldn’t be simpler to understand. But in its execution, it is far from easy. Even with the best of intentions most of us fall short of attaining our goals because we don’t give more than lip service to these two essential words. Let me explain.
Preparing for success is more than making a decision and hoping for results. It is a process in which we think about, study, work at, suffer through and endure the ups and downs of mastering a skill or seeing a project to fruition. It involves making plans and then committing ourselves to a sincere and sustained effort, usually over a length of time, struggle and the chance of failure our constant companions. Being prepared demands that we sacrifice something in the present to position ourselves better in the future. Hard and often repetitive work, the dedication of our time, perhaps even some pain—these are the hallmarks of preparation.
Adjusting in life requires of us both the will and the ability to change, and few of us are good at either. Genuine and lasting change only occurs when we are able to admit that something isn’t working, when we are willing to alter our course, and when we find the determination to see it through. Before adjustments can be made we must give ourselves permission to let go of those dreams of the future we’ve already crafted in our minds, and then push ourselves to rethink and redirect our energies. Adjusting entails a lot of work—mental, emotional, even physical effort. Just as difficult, it requires of us the courage to move forward into the unknowns that lay ahead, each laden with risks and uncertainties that could easily spell failure. It is no surprise, then, that when we count the costs of adjusting our lives we may choose to take the course of least resistance where whining, making excuses or blaming others provides us solace when our best laid plans come up short.
As Americans we stand in debt to our predecessors who rose up to meet challenges in their time with a resolve and ingenuity that has provided us with a way of life that few others in history have enjoyed. The lives of those men and women who invented, created, discovered, pioneered and innovated bear witness to both the wisdom and efficacy of the two keys essential to achievement and progress: preparation and adjustment. Dare we offer our children anything less than this legacy as we guide and direct them to step into our shoes and someday take our places?
I believe American schools make a life-long impact on young people to the degree they teach them how to both prepare and adjust in the pursuit of their dreams. It is a lesson best learned in the give and take of classrooms, clubs, and teams, when boys and girls can engage with their elders and their peers in creating, solving, competing and cooperating. For it is in the social matrix of schools that the expectations of grownups and peers can hold kids accountable for their efforts and their attitudes, none of which can be effectively duplicated in on-line education at home. The day-to-day, in-person interactions on a school campus provide students with a first-hand, real-life experience in applying the formula to their own success. It is in this laboratory that they get their best chance to learn how to prepare in the routines of homework, study, music and play rehearsals and in sports practices. And it is here that they get their best chance in learning how to adjust their work effort in the evaluations and corrections they receive from teachers, directors and coaches. It only took three months of forced “distance learning” last spring during the pandemic to convince me just how true this is.
Achievement has marked the human story since the first rolling stone sparked an idea that turned into a wheel. Why some of us have succeeded more than others is neither a mystery nor is it some esoteric, secret formula obtainable only through an online purchase. Our success in life, no matter how big or small the endeavor, or how complicated or simple the challenge, depends only on how sincerely and faithfully we prepare to succeed and how willing, able and determined we are to adjust to the setbacks and surprises we will inevitably encounter in pursuit of our goals.
