"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out..."
— Robert Collier
American Author
1885 - 1950
Commentary
The illusion, that many believe, is that success happens overnight. This is far from reality. Success happens slowly, gradually over days, months and years. Have you the stamina and commitment to write or paint for ten or twenty years without recognition or reward?
Public success is also fleeting and fragile. One day you are on top of the world and the next you have fallen and failed. Yet, measuring one's success by the whims of the world does not bode well. We need to measure our success by our own internal clock — by our own internal standards. We need to give ourselves credit even if those around us don't appreciate what we have done.
Creative Practice
Count your blessings this week and write them down. What are you thankful for? What are the gifts you have been given? What are you grateful for? Spend time thinking about how you are already a success. Acknowledge and celebrate your success.
Biography
Robert Collier was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Mary Ferguson and John Collier. His father was a foreign correspondent for Collier's Magazine published by his brother Peter. Robert entered a church seminary and expected to be a priest, but dropped out before taking his vows and moved to West Virginia to seek his fortune. He worked as a mining engineer for eight years before moving to New York where he worked in the advertising department of his uncle's company. He wrote sales copy selling books. His sales circulars on the O. Henry stories brought in orders for over two million dollars.
Robert, because of an undiagnosable illness, became interested in health products. He believed that 98% of our illnesses came from chemically treated food. From this illness came the desire to investigate the mind and the powers that lay hidden within the mind. He studied hundreds of books and courses on everything related to metaphysics, the occult and success. Based on his study, Robert wrote a series of books entitled the Secrets of the Ages, which sold over 300,000 copies in his lifetime. He received thousands of letters telling the results obtained from reading the book. His books are still published today through the efforts of his family.
