Failure in 2010

Perfectionism is constructive in very limited circumstances, such as if you are building a space vehicle and need to get that last computer chip in the exact right spot. However, most of the time it is an incapacitating fear of failure that permeates our lives. It also is a huge time waster as we avoid failure by spending time on things that don’t need to be perfect. In fact, it sets us up for constant failure, erodes our self-esteem by preventing us from accepting ourselves, and prevents us from trying and living fulfilling lives because our motivation is to avoid failure.

I had a friend who was constructing a 3D baseball scene with his 8-year-old son. It started out as a project they could have fun with together. But my friend became intent on having it be perfect. After a while he was doing all the work in deep concentration as his son sat there staring into space. It was perfect, and not fun, in fact harmful to the self-esteem of the boy.

What are we to do? Embrace failure in 2010. Yes, that’s what I said; it’s not a typo. Make failure your friend.

Success is almost always preceded by failure. In order to succeed, you must fail. There was a study that demonstrated that people, who succeeded in having a healthy life style, had four failed attempts before they got there. Research shows that the average sale takes 8 nos to get to a yes.

How many times have we heard about the blockbuster author, actor, artist, who faced rejections before achieving great success? We usually hear about successful people when they are famous for their accomplishments, and I will tell you that the key to almost anyone’s success is high self-esteem and multiple failures. Thomas Edison had over 1,000 failed attempts on his way to inventing the light bulb. And I’m sure many of you have heard this quote by Michael Jordan, “I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Thomas Watson, the legendary CEO of IBM believed that they way to increase your success rate is to double your failure rate. He refused to accept the resignation of an employee who was responsible for the company losing a million dollars. He said it was an investment in the employee’s education.
Here’s the career path of someone else you might of heard of; at age 22 he lost his job, at 23 he was defeated in a race for the state legislature, at 24 his business failed, at 27 he had a mental breakdown, at 34 and 39 he lost in races for congress, at 46 he lost in a race for senate, at 47 her lost in a race for his party’s nomination for vice-president, at 50 he lost another senate race and at 51 Abraham Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States. When would you have thrown in the towel?
Keep going in the face of rejection and failure. It is a necessary step towards greater self-esteem and success. Allow your self to feel your feelings, then congratulate yourself for your effort and move on. There is no other way, rejection and failure are unavoidable.
Best wishes for good health and good failures in 2010. But don’t fail to check out my workshop series for 2010, Grow Yourself/Grow Your Business: http://tinyurl.com/yj3fenh