Why I use a rubber band to measure success

A rubber band, you ask? What does a rubber band have to do with measuring success? Well, in my opinion, everything.

Take a moment to absorb this. Pick up a rubber band and stretch it out to its capacity, then (stand clear) let one end of the rubber band go and what happens? It snaps back to its original form and hopefully, you don’t knock your eye out! Don’t we tend to do the same? We have a goal in sight, set out on a plan, complete the actions to achieve success and then WHAM…something happens; a roadblock, a change, a temporary setback, and we let go of the rubber band and fall right back to where we started! So, what did we accomplish? Nothing!

We had a goal in sight, put a plan into motion and allowed the band to slip, taking us backward and away from success.

Here’s a thought: maybe we’re stretching the band too tight or not tight enough. Too much tension and it snaps back too easily; too little and it doesn’t move. So, what’s a person to do?

To begin, get the right size rubber band. Have you ever noticed that a small, thin rubber band may not hold a large package together or a large, thick rubber band won’t hold a small package? Could you be aiming too high or too low? To begin, maybe our strategy should be getting the correct size rubber band. Have the “ultimate” goal in sight, and break success into bite-size pieces. If you stretch the rubber band a little bit at a time and celebrate the small accomplishments along the way, you will gain momentum, allowing the rubber band to become flexible and lose enough elasticity to continue to stretch. So you’re thinking…well, that’s easier said than done. Not at all. Considering the following:

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