Helloo0O Ladies
and Gentlemen!
Welcome back to
Graceland Ontario, your one stop location in linking the
success lessons of Elvis Presley back to your own life. Today, we’ll be talking
about those ups and downs, the jagged lines, which tend to surface in all our
lives and how best to deal with them.
If you look at
your productivity in the short term, you’re looking at a jagged line. Some days
you do well, others poorly. Sometimes you’re inspired, others you don’t know where
to start. But, that doesn’t really matter. We all lose a little loss once in a
while. All that matters is the long term.
At my blog, Graceland Ontario (yep, that’s right − here), the day to
day views are scattered − I’ve seen 49 views a day and as few as zero, even now
it’s more established. But, the long term is all that matters, and it shows a
very different picture. As long as you produce as much as you can everyday, you
can look at a steady increase. Despite all those jagged lines Graceland Ontario in the long term has been growing exponentially.
And this type of growth is everywhere, it’s a pattern, and therefore it’s
useful to watch out for.
Look at friends
− you gain one here, you lose one there. You meet somebody at the bus stop,
someone’s killed in a car accident. It’s another jagged line. But as long as
you continue to meet people, you’re going to see it steady out in the long term
and you’ll eventually have more friends than you’ll lose − you’ll create a
steady gain over time.
Now, let’s move
back to Elvis Presley, particularly his early chart successes.
Elvis started
from nothing in the early mid-50’s at Sun. But by 1955, he’d become one of
their biggest names. In late 1955, he was sold to RCA for more than anyone else
in the business, including Sinatra, was worth. Then, in ’56 he’d flunked in Las Vegas and brought out Heartbreak Hotel, which’s
different sound made RCA think they’d bought an expensive flop. More jagged
lines. But overall, his RCA LP, Elvis
Presley, was a major success. Soon enough he wasn’t only a big music star,
he was also topping in the movies. And that’s not mentioning all the times he
ended up on television in that 1956,
alone! Whether you look at his Hollywood career or his passage into Las Vegas, you can still see those jagged lines.
But even when he lost something, he gained something else − his marriage broke
up, but he played the first International concert. He had his last top 10 hit,
but he broke records in Vegas. All those jagged lines, those ups and downs, built up overall, like my blog, Graceland Ontario, like your friend count. So, when Elvis
passed away in 1977, many people looked back at a successful career despite the
criticism he received over more jagged lines (his increased weight).
As in the stock
market, it's very hard to only gain. You tend to lose a little over time. The
key is not to worry about it but enjoy those descents. You know everything that
goes down will come up again when you’re doing a half decent job (notice I say
when you’re doing a half decent job
− can’t always speak for the stock market, though). What ever anybody else
says, those jagged lines aren’t down to stay. They’ll work their way up again,
and you’ll make all the people who said they wouldn’t and freaked out at the
first sign of a downturn look like idiots. And then, in years to come, when
you’ve put in the best work you can and consistently attempted to make those
jagged lines change, you’ll look only at a gradual climb. Those jagged lines
add up to a mountain with persistence. And, as David Deangelo says, Persistence
is
the price of success.
Elvis’s Lessons:
Your life is
full of jagged lines. It’s not your fault, they’re just there. But, it’s ok −
they’re in my blog, too, and most people’s friend counts, and Elvis’s career.
They tell you despite what you gain, you’ll probably lose along the way, too.
Again, relax. As long as you continue to work, moving forward, those jagged
lines will work their way up again, too. Even when others freak out and say they won’t,
they will. They do for me, they did for Elvis, they will for you. Persistence
will get you over the bumps those jagged lines make. And then, in the future,
when you look back, all you’ll see is a steady incline. That’s a successful
life, my friend, not a fairy tale.
P.S. If you’d like
to see Elvis singing, here’s a Youtube video of him with “ Datin’ ” from the
movie, Paradise,
Hawaiian Style. I’d
never heard this one before…
P.P.S. If you
liked this post (or if you *gasp* didn’t), remember to leave a comment below or
email me at alexghilson@gmail.com. I’d
be glad to reply to whatever you have to say (unless you start spouting Nazi propaganda
on me… but then again, you probably won’t).
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