Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

How to Succeed Even When You Draw the Short Straw
I heard a great story the other day.

No, it wasn't about business—directly. It was about bull riding.

But it shows exactly how your greatest obstacles can become your springboard to success.

~~~~~

A young Bull Rider was determined to become the greatest bull rider on the rodeo circuit. He went from rodeo to rodeo to compete against the best.

The problem was that he wasn't competing only against all the other bull riders. He also competed against something else.

That "something else" was Short Straw.

Short Straw was the meanest, most ornery bull there was. NOBODY had ever ridden Short Straw. Short Straw was a legend. Everybody believed Short Straw would never be ridden.

Whatever rodeo Bull Rider signed up for, it always turned out that Short Straw was there.

And—you guessed it—time after time, when the assignments were drawn of which bull each rider would ride, the young Bull Rider wound up with Short Straw.

Time after time, Bull Rider would barely get through the gate before Short Straw had hurled him face-first into the dust.

Time after time, Bull Rider clocked the shortest time of anyone in the competition.

Not a good way to become the greatest bull rider of them all, was it?

He grew discouraged. He decided to sign up for one last rodeo. If was thrown this time, he was calling it quits.

He chose a rodeo where he was sure Short Straw would not appear. But as luck would have it, Short Straw was there. And, true to form, riding Short Straw fell to him.

He mounted Short Straw certain this would be his last ride, his last rodeo. But he was determined to give it all he had. If this would be his last ride, it would also be his best.

Short Straw exploded from the gate with his usual ferocity.

He bucked. He whirled.

But this time, Bull Rider refused to be thrown.

He called on every bit of knowledge he had accumulated from riding Short Straw all those times and used it to anticipate Short Straw's every move.

Eight seconds later, Bull Rider had become the first man ever to ride Short Straw. He was acclaimed the greatest bull rider of them all.

He gained what he wanted because he didn't shrink back from the greatest obstacle of his life. He faced it head on and overcame it. He used what he had learned from countless failures to finally achieve success.

~~~~~

This story got me thinking about success in general, whether in business or anything else.

We're tempted to find ways to avoid our obstacles. It's easy to buy into the delusion that our obstacles are supposed to evaporate and leave us a clear and easy path to success.

But that's not the way it works.

More often than not, our obstacles are actually the springboard to our success. Learning to overcome them is a crucial prerequisite.

Bull Rider failed countless times to ride Short Straw. But each failure brought with it another piece of knowledge and experience that eventually enabled him to do what no one ever expected.

The same goes for us. We NEED to overcome obstacles, not avoid them.

Some of the biggest obstacles are those that are in ourselves.

If a fear of committing yourself to a single course of action holds you back in a safe little cocoon, you need to commit to one and carry it out. If a tendency to isolate and guess what your target audience wants keeps you from interacting with them, you need to connect with them in whatever way you can.

You need to face and overcome whatever scares you most. It's the most effective way to become what you always dreamed of being.
Jeff


P.S. Does the prospect of facing and overcoming what scares you most scare you? Congratulations. You're normal.

Want a hand in overcoming those internal obstacles that stand in the way of your success? I've found BANABU to be an invaluable tool in changing mindsets that were holding me back.

Don't wait. Check out BANABU and see how it can help you move through those obstacles and on to success.

Labels: BANABU, goals, mindset, motivation, personal growth, successful business