Lost job, 1832
Defeated for legislature, 1832
Failed in business, 1833
Elected to legislature, 1834
Sweetheart (Ann Rutledge) died, 1835
Had nervous breakdown, 1836
Defeated for Speaker, 1838
Defeated for nomination for Congress, 1843
Elected to Congress, 1846
Lost renomination, 1848
Rejected for Land Officer, 1849
Defeated for Senate, 1854
Defeated for nomination for Vice-President, 1856
Again defeated for Senate, 1858
Elected President, 1860
The life of Abraham Lincoln
ACHIEVABLE GOALS ? NOT!
Conventional wisdom says you want to set achievable goals. My life was changed a number of years ago when I heard Ted Turner of Time Warner/Turner Communications (now AOL/Time Warner) fame say "set goals you cannot accomplish in your lifetime." Does that sound like an achievable goal? Does that sound like a goal with a set time frame? Doesn't conventional wisdom say "you must set a time limit for your goal?" B.S.! The pundits tell you that a set time frame will act as a benchmark. Actually it acts as the opposite. It's really a ceiling. How many times have we seen someone give seven days, a month, or sixty days to do something? What happens? It takes exactly that long to accomplish the act. Doesn't it? Instead we should say ? as fast as humanly possible! What happens when you're told "I need it now?" It gets done now!
You see, all super high performance people go against conventional wisdom. Turner, Iacocca, Ford, Dell, Edison, Gates, Jobs, Tom Watson, Perot, Fred Smith, Knight, Bezoes, and probably any superstar you know all subscribe to do what others felt was wrong. And in every case, probably something that was not considered achievable. In other words, the very opposite of conventional wisdom. That same conventional wisdom that is preached in our schools. And we wonder why we're not more successful! Why our children are not high achievers! We wonder why kids are so ill-prepared for life! We wonder why there are so many dufuses! (I'll write a great deal about dufuses in future issues). Wouldn't you like to have some chances back again? The things you didn't do. And you say you can't. Why? Because of your responsibilities, family, kids, etc. Because others say so? Because time has passed you by? Because you are too old now? Because you don't have the energy any more, or even because you're too young? Because! Because! Because! Conventional wisdom says you can't, that's why!
- Dan Pena
Defeated for legislature, 1832
Failed in business, 1833
Elected to legislature, 1834
Sweetheart (Ann Rutledge) died, 1835
Had nervous breakdown, 1836
Defeated for Speaker, 1838
Defeated for nomination for Congress, 1843
Elected to Congress, 1846
Lost renomination, 1848
Rejected for Land Officer, 1849
Defeated for Senate, 1854
Defeated for nomination for Vice-President, 1856
Again defeated for Senate, 1858
Elected President, 1860
The life of Abraham Lincoln
ACHIEVABLE GOALS ? NOT!
Conventional wisdom says you want to set achievable goals. My life was changed a number of years ago when I heard Ted Turner of Time Warner/Turner Communications (now AOL/Time Warner) fame say "set goals you cannot accomplish in your lifetime." Does that sound like an achievable goal? Does that sound like a goal with a set time frame? Doesn't conventional wisdom say "you must set a time limit for your goal?" B.S.! The pundits tell you that a set time frame will act as a benchmark. Actually it acts as the opposite. It's really a ceiling. How many times have we seen someone give seven days, a month, or sixty days to do something? What happens? It takes exactly that long to accomplish the act. Doesn't it? Instead we should say ? as fast as humanly possible! What happens when you're told "I need it now?" It gets done now!
You see, all super high performance people go against conventional wisdom. Turner, Iacocca, Ford, Dell, Edison, Gates, Jobs, Tom Watson, Perot, Fred Smith, Knight, Bezoes, and probably any superstar you know all subscribe to do what others felt was wrong. And in every case, probably something that was not considered achievable. In other words, the very opposite of conventional wisdom. That same conventional wisdom that is preached in our schools. And we wonder why we're not more successful! Why our children are not high achievers! We wonder why kids are so ill-prepared for life! We wonder why there are so many dufuses! (I'll write a great deal about dufuses in future issues). Wouldn't you like to have some chances back again? The things you didn't do. And you say you can't. Why? Because of your responsibilities, family, kids, etc. Because others say so? Because time has passed you by? Because you are too old now? Because you don't have the energy any more, or even because you're too young? Because! Because! Because! Conventional wisdom says you can't, that's why!
- Dan Pena
