Fail on your way to success
How many times do you have to fail before you succeed? That’s the million dollar question.
Perhaps the first question should be: How many times have you failed in your life?
If you’re like me, you probably “failed” more times than you can count. Or more times than you would like to admit. And how many times do those voices in your head tell you “you can’t do that”, “don’t even try, you’ll fail” or “what makes you think you can?”
Or worse yet, do you hear yourself saying negative phrases? Those little words with big impact, like “that was stupid”, “I’m such an idiot” or “why am I so lazy?” Why do we tell ourselves things like this in the first place?
We have been programmed, indoctrinated, for over 13 years (from kindergarten to high school) that failure is not right. Many of us have been beaten by that over the years beyond high school. Over and over again we are taught to believe that failure is not okay. Failure is looked down upon. We are used to feeling ashamed when we fail, we were taught to hide our failures and to be discouraged by past failures. What’s worse, some of these failures turn into fears. These fears can overcome us, become paralyzing, and sometimes control us. They become so strong, to the point that we can no longer function or even think properly in front of them. So after all this, how do we get over our fear of failure or our past failures?
First, know that you are not alone.
Let’s be properly introduced to some of the biggest so-called “failures” of all time …
There is Abraham Lincoln, who, in
1830 was demoted. He went from Army Captain to Soldier …
1832 lost his job when he was defeated in his bid for the state legislature …
1833 failed in business …
1835 his beloved dies …
1836 suffered a nervous breakdown …
1838 was defeated in a race for Speaker of the House …
1843 lost the nomination: tried to run for a seat in Congress …
1848 was a member of Congress and then lost his new nomination for Congress …
In 1849 he was rejected for the post of land officer; denied an appointment as secretary and then also as governor of the Oregon Territory …
1854 was defeated in a race for the United States Senate …
1856 was defeated by the vice president nomination …
1858 was again defeated in a race for the United States Senate … and only two years later, in
In 1860 he was elected President of the United States of America.
Talk about a long way. Not just failure in business, but failure over and over again in politics. Heartbreak Failure to Just Hold It Together: A nervous breakdown isn’t something most people want to admit. And yet, President of the United States. One of our most loved and admired presidents …
Do you think Honest Abe is an anomaly? One of a kind? Let’s look at someone else.
There is Winston Churchill, who, in
1880 developed a speech impediment …
1885 succeeded in failing the sixth grade …
1893 failed the military college entrance exam – three times …
1895 lost her only mother figure when she passed away …
1897 was defeated in the Malakand War …
1899 was defeated in a race for Oldham Parliament; he was captured and even imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp in Pretoria …
1904 he finally got a seat in Parliament and ended up losing his seat in Parliament …
1908 had a seat in the Cabinet and lost his seat there too …
1921 lost his fourth child, who died at the age of three …
1922 he was defeated in a chancellor attempt …
1931 he lost his cabinet seat … and in
In 1940 he became Prime Minister, inspiring British resistance to Adolf Hitler through a firm refusal to consider defeat, surrender, or compromise. He led Britain in this role until Hitler’s defeat and is “widely recognized as one of the most influential people in British history” *.
Politicians may not impress you.
Older figures may not resonate with you.
Did you ever miss an idea?
Thomas Edison did. His teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” In fact, he was fired from his first two jobs for being “unproductive.” As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts to invent the light bulb. How many times are you grateful for that light bulb, every day?
You may not be an inventor. But have you ever failed in business?
Henry Ford failed and went bankrupt five times. Five times before becoming known as one of the greatest automakers of all time.
Don’t you like cars? What about sports?
The all-time great Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times in his career. For a long time he held the record for the most home runs, but did you know that for decades he also held the record for the most strikeouts? I can’t hit a home run before striking out, more than once, more times than you can count.
Babe wasn’t the only strikeout in town.
Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” It went bankrupt several times before building Disneyland. In fact, the proposed park was rejected by the city of Anaheim on the grounds that it would only attract mobsters.
Today, millions of so-called mobs around the world venture into Disney theme parks, cruise ships, and resorts.
One more failure to consider, for all those music lovers who seek to find success one day in this field:
Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred to play his own compositions rather than improve his technique. His teacher called him “hopeless as a composer.” Do I need to say more?
Perhaps you have heard of these names?
You must know some of them, if not all. Why do I give them so much importance? Because all of these people learned something that you may not have learned yet. They knew that failure is just one more step toward success.
Thomas Edison said it best when he said, “Many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up!”
Are you close to giving up? Are you too afraid to start? Do you want to overcome your fear of failure and learn how to use it to succeed? These 4 Easy Steps To Overcome Failure Are Just For You – Use Them To Succeed!
1) CELEBRATE THE FAILURE!
That? Yes, celebrate failure! When you overcome your own pride and recognize that failure is part of growth, then you are beginning. Know that failure is part of learning and part of ultimate success. When you can internalize this, true learning will begin, which no school can teach.
Robert Kiyosaki, in his book Rich Dad Poor Dad, tells of a conversation he had with his “rich dad”, paraphrased as:
“You will go broke at least 4-5 times before you become a millionaire, why not start right away?”
Let’s not waste time celebrating our failures!
2) UNDERSTAND YOURSELF, UNDERSTAND YOUR FAULTS
Evaluate and learn from your past mistakes. If something didn’t work out, learn to identify why. In other words, make sure you understand what worked and what didn’t. If you understand why a business failed, you can learn to avoid the mistake again and try another method. Change comes from mistakes and change puts you on your way. Don’t repeat your mistakes. It is not just a cliché when George Santayana said, “Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.”
3) COLLABORATE
Surround yourself with people who will allow you to fail.
Don’t you know who it is? Let’s see an example:
A newly hired executive vice president made a horrible business decision for his company. His decision was so bad that it cost the company more than $ 2 million. After all that was said and done, he knew he was going to be fired. He waited for the CEO to make the call. When the phone finally rang, he made his way to the CEO’s office and got down to business, waiting for the inevitable. Unsurprisingly, the executive vice president was asked why he made the decision he made. He was asked, “What information did you use?” and, “How might the results of the decision be different?” When the meeting came to a close, the executive vice president was completely confused. He asked, “So you’re not going to fire me?” The CEO responded, “My God, I just invested over $ 2 million in your education!” While that situation is extreme, that CEO is the kind of person you want around you. The principle is the same: collaborate with people who will allow you to fail and appreciate what you have learned from your mistakes.
4) COMMITMENT
You have to commit to yourself, have an iron will that does not give up! Keep trying, no matter how much or how many times you fail. Don’t stop with failure. Remember what Edison said: “Many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up!”
One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overcome by temporary defeat. Everyone is guilty of this mistake.
In the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, there is an illustration about a man who got caught up in the “gold rush” around the time America experienced its gold rush. He went west to pursue his dream of getting rich. After weeks of work, he was rewarded with the discovery of the brilliant mineral. But he needed machinery to bring the ore to the surface. So he went home to Williamsburg, Maryland, and told his relative and some neighbors about the “strike.” They gathered the money he needed for the machinery and it was shipped.
The return in gold proved they had one of the richest mines in Colorado! A few more cars of that mineral would pay off the debts. Down were the exercises! Man’s Hopes Raised! Then something happened … the gold ore vein disappeared! They had reached the end of the rainbow and the pot of gold was no longer there. They continued drilling, desperately trying to retrieve the vein again, all to no avail.
Finally, they decided to EXIT. They sold the machinery to a scrap dealer for a few hundred dollars and took the train home. This “junk” man called in a mining engineer to look at the mine and do some calculations. The engineer reported that the project had failed because the owners were not familiar with the “failures.” His calculations showed that the vein would be ONLY THREE FEET FROM WHERE THE PREVIOUS MAN STOPPED DRILLING. That is exactly where it was found! So the “junk” man took millions of dollars worth of ore from the mine, because he knew enough to seek expert advice before giving up.
When you are committed, you are willing to stand your ground and find people to help you along the way. Do not give up.
Turn failure into success with these 4 steps:
Celebrate, understand, collaborate and engage
As simple as they are, they are not easy. Sometimes your commitment will meet anger; if you do, focus! Don’t let anything stop you and YOU WILL SUCCEED!
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill