If You Had To Die, Than Be Successful, Would You Rather Die?!

Credit: HONY Facebook Page

One of the guiding principles of my life and work ethic is this- YOU EITHER FIND A WAY, OR AN EXCUSE!

I stumbled upon a Facebook post by Humans of New York concerning an accounting graduate who needed a job badly and went all out, showing grit and resilience, to getting it.

Here it is:
“I graduated last May with an accounting degree and moved to the city. But four months had passed and I didn’t have a job yet. I’d probably sent out my resume to thirty different places. And I couldn’t afford to keep waiting for people to call me back. So I went to the strip with all the car dealerships and started going door-to-door to see if they had any openings in accounting. I’ve always loved cars. I used to always read Consumer Reports with my dad. So I thought it would be a good fit. The lady at BMW was a bit standoffish. Then I went to Audi. They were great. Super welcoming. But they didn’t have any positions at the moment. Then I got to Jaguar/Land Rover-- which was my first choice, so I was working up to it— and they sat me down right there for an interview. I was there all afternoon, then they said: ‘We like what we see. Can you start tomorrow?’ I ran outside and called my parents. My dad was so proud of me. I was so proud of myself.”

Other true life stories
I then read some of the comments and found some more inspiring stories including this one by a Gail Weaver Mello:

"It is amazing how things work. I was Controller for a large construction company. The owner needed to hire an assistant before I was hired. They received over 100 applications and interviewed about ten. One woman was not at all qualified but stated in her cover she really needed a job and would work hard. So the owner called her for an interview. She was not at all qualified and did not get the position. Several weeks later the person who was hired quit for a better job. The owner did not want to go through the process again but had shredded all of the resumes & applications (by the way never do that...you never know). Needless to say, the owner was desperate. The only information he had was a thank you card from the woman who was not qualified. She was the only one of the ten candidates who had written a thank you for the time and interview. Guess who got that job and kept it until she retired?"

Interesting isn't it, how determined go-getters will not give up until they get what they want.

Check out these two, too:

Ragan Ringsrud:
"When I was in college in Georgia I got a paid internship at the Armani showroom in New York. I kept calling, emailing, and mailing hard copies of my resume. They finally called me and were like, "Okay! You've got the job. We are scared you won't ever leave us alone if we don't give it to you.""

Mary Letona:
This is the Go-Getter attitude. I did the exact same thing when I graduated. After 3 months of not getting called, I made 100 copies of my little resume and went to the empire state building handing them out on most floors. When I got home, I had 4 voicemails on my house phone. But not all people have that Go-Getter attitude.

I rarely give up too
While I have yet to arrive, I believe it is that same kind of attitude that has gotten me all the little successes I have achieved thus far. What I usually do is to map out a strategy that will ensure success, and follow it through. And by his grace, it has worked for me hitherto- whether I am preparing for an exam, or I want to raise money for a project, or I am preparing to win the ARD medical student quiz competition or be on the hot seat of WWTBAM, etc.

Over the years, from the wealth of knowledge I have gleaned from books and blogs, and from all I have learned from role models, I have come to believe and know that the human spirit is very resilient. And the human mind once stretched, never regains its original dimensions (Oliver Wendell Holmes).

[You can read the Rudyard Kipling poem 'IF' for more on the human spirit's resilience. You will also find the Ralph Waldo Emerson essay 'Self Reliance' very instructive.]

So I ask you, "WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAD JUST ONE LAST CHANCE ALIVE, TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL AND FULFILLED?"

Would you take it...or would you rationalize and give excuses?!

Some of us are still giving excuses and dying instalmentally.