CENTER POINT THE CENTER FOR SELF-CHANGE NEWSLETTER
Vol. 4, No. 2 - February, 2010 HOPE AND ACTION: THE TWO LEGS OF SUCCESS
J. Kingston Cowart "The Change Maker"
Before there was the North County Times, there was the Escondido Times Advocate—and an attorney who wrote opinion articles for it. He wrote for free—hoping to be paid at some point. When the Advocate merged with the Oceanside Blade Tribune to become the North County Times he kept on hoping and writing, still for free.
Writing stimulated his hope. Hope sustained his writing.
That's how it works: Hope and action (in this case writing) are the two legs of success. We move forward toward our goals as each leg steps out in turn again and again over time.
When the San Diego Union -Tribune offered to pay the lawyer for his opinion pieces, he accepted. Then he found it wasn't enough. He wanted to write novels. So he did, hoping to get them published.
He wrote three novels, all of them rejected one right after the other because no one wanted to publish them.
But he still hoped that some day someone eventually would—and he continued writing.
He was told he needed an agent. Hoping that might work, he solicited 22 of them around the country. The result was massive rejection once again—but only 21 times.
The last agent agreed to publish one of his books if he would do "some work" on it first. The lawyer worked for six months hoping to satisfy his agent's demands—while at the same time fulfilling his obligations as a partner in Morrison & Foerster LLP, one of the country's largest law firms. MOFO, as it calls itself, has offices all across the US and in many countries around the world. Its partners are exceptionally busy attorneys. So you can imagine the dedication it took for him to stick to his goal of getting published.
And then ...
The agent found a publisher. The book found a market. So did seven more of the lawyer's books. Some of them, including Marine One, made the New York Times Best Seller List.
The author is San Diego's own James W. Huston [2] and he is still writing, still hoping—and still succeeding.
Most of us will not have to face years of rejection the way Jim Huston did.
And even if we do, eventually a consistent, persistent combination of hope and action—the two legs of success—will almost always get us where we want to be.
That principle applies equally to self-change, family relationships, career goals, and workplace issues.
You really can't get anywhere without both hope and action.
It just makes sense, doesn't it?
J.. Kingston Cowart
Source: Jan Rieger shared this inspiring true story Jim Huston's path to success as an author at an event sponsored by the San Diego Press Club. She is the president of both the SDPC and McLane Rieger Communications [2], a marketing and public relations corporation. Huston's law firm is one of her clients. Resources: [1] www.jameswhuston.com [2] www.mclanerieger.com
Source: Jan Rieger shared this inspiring true story Jim Huston's path to success as an author at an event sponsored by the San Diego Press Club. She is the president of both the SDPC and McLane Rieger Communications [2], a marketing and public relations corporation. Huston's law firm is one of her clients.
Resources: [1] www.jameswhuston.com [2] www.mclanerieger.com
JOIN THE CENTER CIRCLE
It's easy. Every Wednesday for a few minutes between 10:00 and Noon sit down and turn inward - through prayer, meditation, self-hypnosis or any modality you choose - and send out good thoughts to everyone else in the circle.
I'll be there. How about you?
J. Kingston Cowart 619.561.9012 Post Office Box 19005 San Diego CA 92159 jkcowart@self-change.com
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