The Russian psychologist, Bluma Zeigarnit discovered a concept, appropriately named, “the Zeigarnik effect,” that refers to the phenomenon whereby the recall ratio for tasks interrupted at the middle or latter end of task completion is higher than for tasks interrupted at or near the beginning.
In other words, what you start but don’t finish weighs more heavily on your mind the closer you were to finishing the task when you quit trying. This is the area of memory that constitutes the soul-sighing sadness of regret.
There is an old story of the 49er who dug and dug for months and months looking for the deep and rich vein of gold he adamantly believed was just beyond every swing of his pick. Yet, as strong as his belief was, he finally gave up and left the mine. The next week he learned that another miner who had gone in after he had abandoned his shaft had discovered a thick stratum of gold the likes of which had never been before unearthed. The old 49er was literally just inches from his riches.
There is a Chinese proverb that says, “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.” Former Presidential candidate, Ross Perot, a self-made billionaire, commented, “Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.”
Another person who knew a thing or two about the requirements of being successful, Thomas Edison, wrote, “Many of life’s failures are men (sic) who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
You are mere inches from the riches of the rewards of your efforts to improve yourself and achieve everything you want in your life! Yes, you are. Take one more swing of the pick, strike once more with the force of commitment, the eagerness of positive expectation and the conviction of belief. What will be revealed will stun you – and propel you well beyond the best you've ever done.
