If At First You Don’t Succeed…

…most people likely know the end of the cliche.   For those that don’t, it’s “try, try again.”  Great little words of wisdom, don’t you think?  Certainly, it speaks to the idea of persistence, which I’ve already blogged about a couple of times.  What I’m beginning to realize, however, is that while persistence is a good thing — and in fact a necessary thing — when it comes to achieving success — persistence without time to think and evaluate is a little like flying blind.

Regardless of what you’re striving for, no matter what it is that you’re aiming to be successful at, unless you’re willing to take the occasional step back and evaluate the situation, you’re going to waste energy and resources.  Now granted, when you’re on a roll, it’s a good idea to keep going.  And, even then, there’s a way in which it behooves you to make yourself aware of what’s going on around you, so that you can tweak your approach as necessary.

What I know for sure is that, on the road to success (whatever that is for you), there will be moments where you hit a speed bump, come to a fork in the road, or just plain run out of gas.  When any of these happen, you could try to plow your way ahead without any thought or consideration — and you’ll end up using a lot of energy that could be better spent.  When you find yourself approaching these sorts of moments, I assert that you’re better off slowing down and THINKING about your next step.  You don’t have to come to a grinding halt; and you do have to slow down.  Life isn’t meant to be charged through.  It’s meant to be lived with at least a modicum of thought.

Bottom-line, what I’ve learned is this:  if at first you don’t succeed, re-evaluate, then try again.