Penelope comments on this posting.
In anything in life -- business, sports, marrying a really rich guy -- the people who do it the best feel like they will not be able to live with themselves if they don't meet their goal.There are very few people like this, in any area of life. You might think you are like this in your area, but you don't know until you get nearly to the very top and you see the difference between the people two steps from the top and the top.
It takes incredible work and talent to reach the number 17 spot in nationals. But the difference between the competitive instinct of number 17 in the nation and number 1 in the nation is huge. And I think this is true in most areas of life.
Sidenote on "failure is not an option". Failing is one of the great lessons in business life. "Fail fast and move on" is the axiom -- so that you don't get stuck trying to do well at something you're never going succeed at.
And in this sense, we all need to revisit the idea of failure becuase maybe most failures are not failure at all, but opportunities to learn about ourselves and the world. And in that way, success and failure are sort of equal.
