The End Is In The Beginning

"If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed." - Dr. David Viscott

There's a concept not many of us know about: it's the idea that questions and answers are married; so are problems and solutions, desire and fulfillment and, as quoted above, the courage to begin and the courage to succeed.

This is an important concept for us to recognize because it offers hope when we lack the confidence that we can have what we want. It's like a magnet with both a positive and negative pole.

One without the other is meaningless. They need each other; they also seek each other.

Chaos Theory tells us that inherent in all seeming chaos there is order and pattern. If we apply that idea to our seeking a dream career, in the midst of our questions, our wonderings, our fears and our lack of clarity, there is purpose, meaning, direction and answers.

We should take comfort from this idea. If I know in my gut I want a dream career, but circumstances don't seem to favor it, or I'm not sure what it is, or I know what it is, but I can't see a way to make it happen, I can take comfort from knowing that the answer is contained in the questions and that a coherent pattern lies somewhere within the confusion.

It may be hidden for now, but it is there. Our searching, questioning, learning, asking, seeking and thinking about the direction of lives is what makes the pattern reveal itself.

It IS there. It WILL become clear. We WILL succeed.

Knowing that, it's easier to relax while we wrestle with those vexing questions of how, when, what? We get insight into one piece of the puzzle and it leads us to the next insight. We find what we think is an answer only to realize it's a partial answer, or not our answer at all.

It's life's guarantee to you. Go into the chaos of the search. Risk; take action.

As you do, the answers will reveal themselves. As they do, you'll know your direction; your dream job will appear; your dream income will manifest; your area of contribution will become clear.

What I think Dr. Viscott is saying is that courage is courage. If you have the courage to begin, that same courage can help you succeed.

In fact, if you keep applying courage to each new task; if you stay focused; if you fearlessly go into that chaotic place of not-knowing-yet, you will acquire even more courage to keep you going until you succeed.

You may not be old enough to remember when President John F. Kennedy set a goal for the United States: to place man on the moon within ten years. No one knew if it could be done; let alone how to do it.

But he had unshakeable vision and faith that the enormous problems such a goal posed could and would be solved. And they were.

If we are to succeed in reaching our goals of a dream job and a meaningful career, we need that kind of vision and sense of purpose for ourselves. We need to evoke the courage within us and begin. That courage will grow and lead us to the success and contribution we desire.

Are you ready to begin?