I think it’s important to be realistic about self improvement and achievement. It’s easy to idealize someone who has made it big or become an icon, like Einstein. It looks from the outside like their fame or brilliance was a forgone conclusion, but that’s an illusion.

The reality is that Einstein was a smart guy, like many other smart guys, who worked harder, and got a little more lucky than others. Einstein got angry. Einstein got horny. Einstein occasionally forgot his wallet, and maybe peed a little on the toilet seat (hopefully he cleaned it up, but maybe not!).

That’s why I feel like it’s important to mention when I fail. It’s my hope that this blog will have a happy ending in which I achieve my goals, but I do not want it to appear after the fact that it was easy. It is not a foregone conclusion. I don’t want to gloss over the struggles I have along the way.

I tend not to write about every frustration I face because I try be helpful or poignant with all my posts (also a chronicle of sputtering success), but I face them daily.

For example, I felt slapped in the face when the office I was supposed to get was instead appropriated for a “demo room” that was used perhaps once a week. Petty? You be the judge.

Also, I’ve been struggling to follow my own advice from the Information Addiction post. I am occasionally overcome by brain drain after looking at the same issue in the software for a few hours, and succumb to my cruel mistress, Google Reader.

Many of these uninteresting episodes slip through the cracks, but it’s important to remember that success isn’t a light switch. It’s a full house rewiring. There are times when the way forward isn’t clear. Times when you have to backtrack, or redo work you thought you had completed. There are going to be times that you just don’t feel like doing any damn electrical work.

That’s okay.

What’s important is that you keep your goal in mind, and continue slogging forward no matter how many times you piss on the toilet seat.

Just try to clean up after yourself, will you?