You Win If You Never Stop

I believe it was on the first day of law school that the very first instructor our huge class met gave the following warm welcome to us:."Welcome to law school. Look to your right.

Do you see that person sitting there? Now look to your left. Do you see that person? Statistically, they'll both be gone by the time graduation rolls around.".Sweet words, the kind you want to frame.But of course, he was right, in principle, even if his numbers were off. A lot of people who started the process fell away before reaching its completion.

There are so many mountains in life that beckon climbers, yet frighteningly few reach the pinnacle.A martial art is yet another challenge that calls many, yet in the end, chooses very few for its top distinctions. Thousands of students have studied at my dojo, yet only 20, dating back to 1974, have made it to Black Belt.So, what is the right stuff? You know, that quality that the true champions have that weekend warriors are missing?.Winners, the few who are left standing in the end, at whatever the goal line happens to be, are the ones who simply never stop. They just keep moving, and never rest.

Plus, they may gripe on occasion, but they never fundamentally question the decision they made in the beginning to make it to the end.Have you ever run in a long race, consisting of several miles, and made it to the end after having fostered the idea of stopping along the way? I don't think so.The idea of stopping, if taken seriously, is incompatible with finishing.

This is why Bill Gates, for instance, though he is one of the world's richest men, is a winner, measured by his achievements, the company he has built, and his fortune.I don't think he ever sees the day, off in the distance, when he's going to quit.Imagine being him and feeling that, and you'll know exactly what that quality is that enables any of us to reach the top in any endeavor.

Gary S. Goodman, President of www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone®, You Can Sell Anything By Telephone! and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide.

A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate.

He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

By: Dr. Gary S. Goodman