Are any of you ever discouraged when you hear about how long it took for the people you admire to achieve success?

27 different publishers rejected Dr. Seuss’s first book To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.

It took Kathryn Stockett 5 years to write “The Help,” which was rejected by 60 different literary agents.

It was 5 years between Brad Pitt’s first film booking and the role that finally got him noticed (J.D in Thelma and Louise). While trying to make it as an actor, Pitt supported himself  by driving strippers in limos, moving refrigerators and dressing as a giant chicken while working for “el Pollo Loco.”

Yeah, these stories hold the message: “keep going, success is coming” – but I have always felt intimidated by these stories of hard work and rejection. I am the type of person who would love to be good at something immediately. Although I am a hard worker, I want everything that I do to be immediately awesome. I hate failing, and in the past I’ve tried to avoid it at all costs.

Recently I have learned that failure is a crucial ingredient in success. Previously, when I would attempt to learn or improve at a skill (be it writing, tennis, playing guitar, etc), I would get frustrated because of how bad I was at the beginning of the learning process, or because I saw how far I had to go to be competitive.

I have recently discovered a different way to look at learning that I would like to share with you now:

Try approaching the  learning process with the understanding that all you can do is try your best every time… until your best is better than everyone else’s.

When I first started writing this blog, I thought that I was a pretty good writer. Now, when I look back at my first posts I can visibly observe how much I have improved. Through practice, I have gotten better and better – and the practice/learning process hasn’t been discouraging or infuriatingly difficult – it has been fun. I have experienced a sense of achievement every time I’ve pressed send. The improvement occurred without my even noticing it.

Through the writing of this blog, and though my experiences at school, I have discovered what I believe are the secrets to success:

1. Do not be afraid of failure.
2. Live in the moment, and acknowledge and celebrate every success – no matter how small.

The end goal will seem far away if that’s all that you focus on, but if you take the time to appreciate every small success you will reach your destination without even realizing that the time was passing.