Optimism Part 2

This is the second article in a series on applying The Optimist Creed to help you succeed in your life and career.

The Optimist Creed: Point 1

"Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind."

The first point of The Optimist Creed is a tall order – but one that I find is attainable with the right attitude. As we go through life bad things, as well as good things, happen to us. I’ve found that I might have been able to prevent some of the bad things by being a little more diligent or forward thinking.

On the other hand, sometimes bad things just happen. That’s when it’s really important “to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.” Several months ago, I was in New Jersey for some business, and I decided to stay two more days to make some sales calls.

The first call was at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. I had a two hour drive to get there. When I arrived, my prospect’s assistant greeted me and told me that the FDA had just arrived on a surprise visit. My prospect was the head of Quality for the facility. The FDA’s arrival meant that he would be extremely busy for the next few days working with them. In other words – he couldn’t meet with me. She gave me his apologies, telling me that the FDA had arrived only minutes before I was scheduled, so they hadn’t had the time to call me to cancel our appointment.

I was disappointed, but I understood. I got back in my car and began driving back to my hotel, just outside of Newark. I stopped on the Jersey Turnpike to use the facilities and get something to drink. While I was there, I checked my voice mail. The person I was supposed to meet later that day, asked me to call him. When I called, he told me that he had resigned
from his company, and so we didn’t need to meet.

One day, a lot of driving, two cancelled sales calls. My peace of mind was getting a bit disturbed. Through no fault of my own, my well planned sales day had completely fallen apart. As I sat there and drank my bottled water I decided that I would let myself feel sorry for myself for as long as it took to drink the water.

Once I finished the water, I got back in my car, drove to my hotel and spent the next couple of hours on the telephone following up with other prospects and current clients. I used the rest of this “found time” to work on a book that I had just begun writing. (That book turned out to be Straight Talk for Success. It’s available now on Amazon.com and in bookstores.) In this way, I turned lost time and frustration into something productive.

I was able to do this because I remembered the first point of The Optimist Creed: “Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.” I was strong. I gave myself 20 minutes to feel sorry for myself, and then set about doing positive things that helped me reach some of my goals.

This is one concrete example of how The Optimist Creed has helped me in my quest to become a career and life success. If you learn, believe in and follow the principles in The Optimist Creed, you too, will be on the road to success.