Stack success? I am all about it!
Recently I had the opportunity to meet a dynamic and thoughtful gentleman, Jim Marggraff, who is the creator of the LeapFrog LeapPad Learning System. Jim has had many successes in his life as you can imagine and none more important to him than the achievements of his children. He decided to publish a book entitled How to Raise a Founder with Heart. His two children are both founders in their own right--his goal is to provide parents with a framework for raising children with the skills critical to becoming a good founder.
This is a book that would be of interest to many parents--even if your children are already adults. It is a book full of valuable tips and insights for a whole range of readers and it is surely helpful to managers of development teams and development officers in many organizations.
As I moved into the consulting field, I found that many circumstances with which I was dealing were completely new to me...I have been stopped short many times wondering how to handle certain situations. Some of the new ventures in which I have been involved cause some apprehension and require a great deal of determination and imagination.
Something in Jim's book was very meaningful to me, as I am sure it would be to anyone starting on a new venture. I want to share that with you. He says:
"No matter how many achievements you reach in life, starting a new initiative can seem daunting. You question whether you can reach your goals, whether you can raise the money, and whether people will follow you. Even though you've developed the necessary skills and have a proven record of success, you will still encounter doubts and fears."
That set the stage for me. I have one project that I believe in so strongly, but its a project that must be scaled for ten cities and that does challenge me. But I believe in it. But as Jim says when you meet the next challenging opportunity:
"You get nervous. Was the first time a fluke? Are you really smart enough or strong enough to win again? The steeper the challenge, the more likely we are to default to the 'I can't do this' position. But as we know, 'can't' is inadmissible. Think about your past achievements. List the different skills and strategies you used to reach those goals. Then think about how those same skills and strategies will apply to this new project. This will help connect the threads and see that future success builds on past achievements. And past achievements show a pattern of success that suggests that future success is, indeed, possible." (This has been paraphrased to a very small degree.)
Using the technique of stacking success will help you feel more self-assured as you approach new challenges, feeling confident that success is in your control, not something that is left up to chance. Just get started keeping this in mind. Make each day a productive one, keep reaching to be the best version of yourself that you can be.
This book was copyrighted in 2018 and published by Jim Marggraff.