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Poem

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SUCCESS makes you fearful, Of losing your place, Of gambling with stature, Of losing your face.

Bracken Darrell is the CEO of VF Corporation, an American global apparel and footwear company. In June 2023, Darrel was appointed CEO of  VF Corp, the parent company of Vans sneakers and Timberland boots. Before his appointment, he was CEO of Logitech, a computer peripherals maker. As the CEO of Logitech, he penned a Seuss-like poem titled “The Secret to Success: Avoid It.” wherein he writes about the pitfalls of success.

In a LinkedIn post about the poem, Darrell quipped:

We all seek success, but the actual experience of thinking you’re successful is potentially performance eroding or even dangerous. That’s true for businesses, teams and us as individuals. In extreme cases, others think you are smarter, more creative, and more often right. You aren’t, of course. You’re the same woman or man as before. 

In the poem, The Secret to Success: Avoid It, Darrell made the following observations about success and failure:

You joined the world naked, Unclothed and unhaired. You started out solo, Crying and scared.

By trial and error, You crawled up and past two, Then learned right through grade school, High School and Big U!

Sometimes you won, Oft you fell down destroyed, Broken and beaten, and, Worse, unemployed.

Sometimes you won, Oft you fell down destroyed, Broken and beaten, and, Worse, unemployed.

From that elevation, You tumbled down far, You rolled, bounced, and crumbled, You damaged your car.

You climbed up again though, Now humbled, strong willed, No, nothing could stop you, Not even a spill.

You learned to keep learning, As you grew older, When you lost you showed grace, You were humbler but bolder.

As the ‘wins’ piled up, A new friend joined you, too, At first you hardly took notice, But SUCCESS grew and he grew.

He praised average comments, Your most awkward charm, He loved all your faults, Like your worst throwing arm.

He praised average comments, Your most awkward charm, He loved all your faults, Like your worst throwing arm.

SUCCESS makes you fearful, Of losing your place, Of gambling with stature, Of losing your face.

So what now my friend, You see what SUCCESS brings, How does one avoid him, Yet accomplish great things?

You’ve got someone to nurture, Still naked, no hair, That someone is yours, ONLY yours, so take care!

One vulnerable child, Lives lifelong in us all, His name is ‘Potential’, He stands ten feet tall.

SUCCESS is wicked, He’s not what he seems, He lunches on goals, For dinner eats dreams.

And I hope if you live To 120 plus 4, You read this each year, Feel it down in your core.

Remember Success Is the wolf in your tale, Live hungry in life, Always learn and please fail.

All the best in your quest to get better. Don’t Settle: Live with Passion.

“Average” is what the failures claim to be when their family and friends ask them why they are not more successful.

“Average” is the top of the bottom, the best of the worst, the bottom of the top, the worst of the best. Which of these are you?

“Average” means being run-of-the-mill, mediocre, insignificant, an also-ran, a nonentity.

Being “average” is the lazy person’s cop-out; it’s lacking the guts to take a stand in life; it’s living by default.

Being “average” is to take up space for no purpose; to take the trip through life, but never to pay the fare; to return no interest for God’s investment in you.”

“Being “average” is to pass one’s life away with time, rather than to pass one’s time away with life; it’s to kill time, rather than to work it to death.

To be “average” is to be forgotten once you pass from this life. The successful are remembered for their contributions; the failures are remembered because they tried; but the “average,” the silent majority, is just forgotten.

To be “average” is to commit the greatest crime one can against one’s self, humanity, and one’s God. The saddest epitaph is this: “Here lies Mr. and Ms. Average—here lies the remains of what might have been, except for their belief that they were only “average.”

– Edmund Gaudet.

There’s always a chance to win the crown But when we fail to give our best We simply haven’t met the test.

Sometimes I think the Fates must Grin as we denounce and insist

The only reason we can’t win

Is the Fates themselves that miss

Yet there lives on an ancient claim

We win or lose within ourselves

The shining trophies on our shelves

Can never win tomorrow’s game

You and I know deeper down

Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

The Death Song Poem is often attributed to native American Shawnee chief and warrior Tecumseh. The poem is often referred to by different names:  Sing Your Death Song poem, die like a hero going home poem, The Indian Death Prayer, The Indian Death Poem, Live Your Life poem etc.

Tecumseh was a Native American Shawnee chief and warrior who became the primary leader of a multi-tribal confederacy that led his people to resist the expansion of the United States into Native American land. He was one of the most celebrated leaders of his time.

American literary critic, author and scholar, William Lyon Phelps ( 1865 – 1943) was a professor of English at Yale University from 1901 to 1933, where he taught a course on the Modern Novel. In a radio broadcast on April 6, 1933, he delivered “The Pleasure of Books” speech:

The habit of reading is one of the greatest resources of mankind; and we enjoy reading books that belong to us much more than if they are borrowed. A borrowed book is like a guest in the house; it must be treated with punctiliousness, with a certain considerate formality. You must see that it sustains no damage; it must not suffer while under your roof. You cannot leave it carelessly, you cannot mark it, you cannot turn down the pages, you cannot use it familiarly. And then, some day, although this is seldom done, you really ought to return it.