Failing Forward 05/04/2011
I recently experienced a level of failure in my professional career that I have not faced in a long time. To some it may not be consired a failure, but in my eyes it is. As John Maxwell has said in his book Failing Forward, "The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure." The key here is our response to failure. In the face of failure it is imperative to find a way to motivate ourselves to see past this percieved failure and find a way to see the opportunities that it has presented to us. Use this time to identify new ways of doing things, changing old habits or coming up with new more creative approaches to the same task. Use failure to help change your attitude, reinvigorate your passion or light a fire in your belly to go out and be the best at what you do. "According to Tulane University business professor Lisa Amos, the average for entrepreneurs is 3.8 failures before they finally make it in business." If every business owner gave up after their first or second failed attempt there would be no businesses to speak of. A majority of our country's businesses are small businesses and they represent the foundation of this great country. If it were not for the fortitude, perserverance and ability to Fail Forward where would America be today?? The next time you look failure in the eye no mattter what you think you have failed at remember these 5 rules: 1. You will learn lessons 2. There are no mistakes, only lessons 3. A lesson is repeated until it is learned 4. If you don't learn the easy lessons, they get harder. 5. You will know you have leanred a lesson when your actions change. If you are interested in learning more about how to overcome failure then I recommend reading John C. Maxwell's "Failing Forward." It is a great resource on the subject and should be recommended reading in every college and university across America. CommentsLeave a Reply |
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