5 Ways to Turn Failure into Success
As an executive, I find that I often don’t value failure in the way I ought to. How many times have I interpreted failure as a sign of inadequacy, instead of a sign of my own success? As Dale Carnegie said, “Discouragements and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” Do you think Steve Jobs, Tiger Woods, Babe Ruth or Eli Manning became great by not failing? No failing is the backbone to their success!
Here are five stepping stones to success:
- Learn - Failure teaches you knowledge, wisdom and discernment. Think about your best “life” lessons. Often a failure or perception of a failure is at the heart of that lesson. Too often I make my own failure much worse than it really is. If you learn to press on, reach beyond your emotion and take inventory of what you have learned from your failure, you may surprise yourself. Many leaders have learned patience, kindness and mastered much needed skills to become the strong leaders they are today.
- Practice – Practice makes perfect. Don’t skip down the hill like Jack & Jill and try to find the shortest path to success. Instead teach yourself patience and learn how to master one thing really well with precision and precise-”attitude!” Becoming a master at something, means you repeat the strategy, vision or lesson over and over again. Do you think Steve Jobs, Tiger Woods, Babe Ruth or Eli Manning became great by not failing? No failing is the backbone to their success!
- Focus – Focus on the here and now. The past is the past, the moment is the moment and the future is the future. Live in the moment, you can’t change your past but you can learn from it to have a bright future. Don’t future trip to tomorrow, fear paralyzes the mind. By remaining right in the moment you allow creativity to bloom, fear to subside and perseverance to shine. The new day shines much brighter than the night before.
- Plan – Plan and allow yourself to fail. Personal development guru Steve Pavlina recommends we all fail on purpose. He suggests you pick something to learn where you know you have no talent or skillset to succeed. By doing this, Mr. Pavlina believes you will experience more benefits than losses, and in the end, aren’t benefits much more enjoyable than losses?
- Smile – Learn to smile while you fail. Just because something is failing doesn’t mean you have to become doom and gloom. Think positive, be positive and enjoy life. Where you might be failing, you might be succeeding somewhere else. Work is only one aspect of life; think about other areas of your life and note where you are succeeding. Take inventory of what you do well and before you know it, you’ll be smiling again.
Take these five stepping stones, practice them over and over and I promise you will be a success in your own eyes. It’s not our investors, bosses or friends we must convince of our success, it’s our own minds. Instead of saying, “I want success” say “I am success.” Mind over matter, works every time.
