PROCEED AS IF SUCCESS IS INEVITABLE.” Anonymous
Strolling down a busy hometown street on a sunny day I saw a mug with the these words emblazoned on it in a shop window. They were printed in all caps in a bright handful of colors — blue, green, yellow, and red. They looked like a bunch of balloons ready to set sail for the sky and they lifted my heart as if I were about to fly skyward myself.
What an inspired saying!
“PROCEED AS IF SUCCESS IS INEVITABLE.”
What would we do, if we truly took this advice to heart? How would we pursue our writing life?
We’d get moving: Quite simply, we’d find a path and stay on it. This saying implies that we have the confidence and the sense of direction to move forward steadily. It encourages us to take action and holds the promise that if do we’ll get where we want to go—Guaranteed!
We’d meet obstacles calmly — and carry on: We’d see any roadblocks that crop up as way stations on the road to success. We’d know that they might stop us briefly but not permanently. With success assured, we wouldn’t panic, we’d plan and improvise: We’d find a way to go over, under, around, or through any and every obstacle in our path.
We’d be bolder: If we knew in our minds and hearts that success is inevitable — that it’s ours already, we’d act more boldly. We’d “go all out, instead of holding back,” as my friend and mentor Rob Gilbert says so often on his wonderful Success Hotline (973.743.4690). We’d put that wild story bouncing around in our brain down on paper — and make it even wilder! We’d fire off queries to those “big” agents we’d love to work with. We’d dive into that social media course we know we need, but have been on the fence about. We’d pen a poem or a romance or a thriller — play with an unfamiliar genre to stretch our writing muscles.
So here’s a simple plan: “PROCEED AS IF SUCCESS IS INEVITABLE” — and write on!
