GETTING STARTED

              

        

              

Consider this famous quote of a master of quotes, Mark Twain.  Mr. Samuel Clemens, whose pen name is Mark Twain, wore many hats in his career in the late 19^th and 20^th century. I don’t agree with all of his philosophy, however, his candor is remarkable, and his writing which includes novels and many home-grown quotes is unique. Although often filled with humor, his quotes reveal a magic bit of wisdom well-worth including in our value system.

The secret of getting ahead or being successful in any endeavor requires “getting started.” I used this idea as a tool of encouragement for my desire to be a contributing writer. How many of us observe some event, experience an adventure, feel inspiration by a life-touching incident, or simply dream an idea that we wish to share with others? However, wishing is only thinking, and thought requires action to bring about results. No matter how many wonderful, exciting stories swim around in the brain, until the motivated writer takes a pen and creates words to describe the thought, they remain useless. Apply this principle to any enterprise.

We often expect success without enough action to bring the idea to useful fruition. A successful writer must, of course, create the project which is “getting started,” but to survive, the idea requires continuing onward and taking action.

To become a part of the literary world, an author must be motivated to aggressively peddle the work, at times, forcefully venturing out of his/her comfort zone. Aggressive action and attention to marketing exacted by the author measures writing success. No one appreciates your work as much as you do. If you wish to succeed, you, and you alone, must sell your ability to perform, the virtues of your creation, or the significance of your idea. In the same way, Mark Twain suggests “Don’t wait. The TIME will never be right.”

Many helpful aids are available to assist in any venture. However, just as the writer must create a well-researched, grammatically correct, stimulating, appealing document relevant to his/her reading audience and take appropriate action to ensure the work is available to the reader, the entrepreneur must provide a functional, relevant, quality product to gain prominence in his/her field.

Getting STARTED does not guarantee getting AHEAD, but to achieve success, one must START. Additional advice provided by Mark Twain to keep us humble and grateful, he said, “The world owes you nothing. It was here first!”  Another famous quote by Benjamin Franklin that applies is “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Are you harboring an idea, invention, venture, mission, or whatever? You could be the next Nobel Prize winner. WHY DON’T YOU GET STARTED?