How Smart People Tackle FAILURE Head On!

Photo: Courtesy of Chris Griffith via Flickr

Best-selling author John C. Maxwell, invites us to take a look at a topic that makes most people cringe.  Whether reflecting on a mistake made 10 years ago or 10 minutes ago, Maxwell makes argument for not allowing our failures to cause us to cower in fear and regret; rather, he encourages people to embrace the reality of our mistakes so that we can move forward and use them to our benefit.  He even goes a step further by evaluating what contributes to a person's level of success.  

Below is an excerpt from his book, Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones For Success, where he examines the common misconceptions about the reasons or factors having contributed toward people's successes.  In turn, we can fall into the trap of minimizing others' success when we focus on a particular factor that we believe led them down that much envied road, instead of paying careful attention to what Maxwell calls "perception."  

WHAT'S THE ROOT OF ACHIEVEMENT?

What makes the difference?  Why do some people achieve so much?  Is it...

•  Family background?  Having a good family growing up is something to be grateful for, but it's not a reliable indicator of achievement.  High percentages of successful people come from broken homes.
• Wealth?  No, some of the greatest achievers come from households of average to below-average means.  Wealth is no indicator of high achievement, and poverty is no guarantee of low achievement.
• Opportunity?  You know, opportunity is a peculiar thing.  Two people with similar gifts, talents, and resources can look at a situation, and one person will see tremendous opportunity while the other sees nothing.  Opportunity is in the eye of the beholder.
• High morals?  I wish that were the key, but it's not.  I've known people with high integrity who achieve little.  And I've known scoundrels who are high producers.  Haven't you?
• The absence of hardship?  For every achiever who has avoided tragedy, there's a Helen Keller who overcame extreme disabilities or a Viktor Frankl who survived absolute horrors.  So that's not it either.

Photo: Courtesy of Amazon.com

No, none of these things are the key.  When it comes right down to it, I know of only one factor that separates those who consistently shine from those who don't:  The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.  Nothing else has the same kind of impact on people's ability to achieve and to accomplish whatever their minds and hearts desire. 

In the world of entrepreneurial articles and business books alike, there seems to be a common thread with regard to success and achievement:  Perception.  How can such a seemingly insignificant word carry such great weight in how it affects the outcome of our lives?  The interesting part is that it is entirely in our control, how we choose to perceive the situations we face on a daily basis:  do we look at them as opportunities or misfortunes?  

Is there a failure in your business or personal life, which you need to change your perception about? 

In case you missed it, check out The 4-Hour Work Week...SERIOUSLY?!

Looking Out For #1: What It Could Mean For Your Life

Are You Doing What You Love the Most?

Looking out for Number One is the conscious, rational effort to spend as much time as possible doing those things which bring you the greatest amount of pleasure and less time on those which cause pain.  Everyone automatically makes the effort to be happy, so the key word is "rational."  

To act rationally, and thus experience pleasure and avoid pain on a consistent basis, you have to be aware of what you're doing and why you're doing it.  If you are not aware, you're not living life; you're merely passing through.                                       

-Robert J. Ringer

                             
In his book Looking Out For #1, Robert J. Ringer is not merely suggesting that people should be more egocentric in order to live more fulfilled lives.   With the rising and setting of the sun each day, we are given a new opportunity, but it comes with a choice of attitude and commitment:  

1. To get dragged and pulled through the day
2. To purposefully move through the day with intention

Ringer is presenting the philosophy that if you must choose the life you most want to live, and that if you are not making conscious choices to do what you want, then your life is out of control; he further explains that this kind of life approach requires an elevated awareness of your true desires.

While the high point on the Awareness Meter is taking action based only on your own rational choices, the absolute pits is taking action based on what others choose for you.  If you've been in the habit of doing the latter, the good news is that you only have one way to go from here:  up.

While it makes no sense to make decisions based on what others believe is best for us and our business, we often fall into the trap of allowing the ideas of others control and dictate the path we take in life.  But the question is, how did we get to this point?  How did we end up allowing someone else's dream take first place in our lives?  We have given up our own dream, and ultimately control over our own destiny, one decision at a time.

Ringer continues by posing the question:  What's the payoff for you?

Looking out for Number One is important because it leads to a simple, uncomplicated life in which you spend more time doing those things which give you the greatest amount of pleasure.  It's the discovery of where it's all at -- the realization that life is worth living and that it can and should be a joy rather than a dread.  The natural offspring of this realization are feelings of self-control and self-esteem, which in turn perpetuate still more joy in your life.

With this foundational perspective leading you through the book, each chapter describes the various hurdles every person faces in pursuing the dreams of life.  

Which hurdle most stops you from pursuing the life you always wanted, both in business and in personal affairs? 

1. The Perspective Hurdle
2. The Reality Hurdle
3. The People Hurdle
4. The Crusade Hurdle
5. The Financial Hurdle
6. The Friendship Hurdle
7. The Love Hurdle
8. The Starting Line

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

T. E. Lawrence 

What Choice Do You Need To Stop Making For Others and Start Making For Yourself Today?

  

We'd Love To Hear The Hurdles You've Jumped To Get Where You Are Today!

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