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How To Turn Your Failure Into Success By Tatiana Velitchkov © 2002 Do you sometimes look at the vast heap of failed dot coms... and fear deep inside that you're on your way to becoming one of them? Maybe your sales have been dwindling, or inquiries have been trickling, and many times it seems that only the bills keep coming in. Maybe you've even reached the point where you wonder if it would be best to call it quits & close shop. The bad news is that nothing I can say to you now can really make things easier for you. BUT THE GOOD NEWS is that you are currently in the BEST position for success, since you're more ready for it NOW than you will ever be! Nowhere To Go But Up Motivational speaker Vic Johnson of mp3Motivators.com knows all too well that feeling of hitting "rock bottom." In fact, in his audio message "Sick & Tired of Being Sick & Tired," he tells of the day when his only daughter turned 13 and officially became a teenager... and he didn't even have two nickels to rub together to buy her a birthday present. "I cried myself to sleep that night." said Johnson. "(Imagine) a 40-something-year-old big tough guy who couldn't buy his only daughter a stinking birthday present. Boy that was humbling. But that was the kind of thing it took for me to change." Johnson then learned that "you can't change your life without changing yourself," and that "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten." "One of my greatest early discoveries," he says, "One that filled me with incredible hope -- was that most successful people that I learned about had at some point been near or at the bottom. "IN FACT, it seems like that it's an almost necessary qualification for being successful. Isn't that EXCITING to know?" What Is Failure Anyway? Perhaps the reason for Johnson's observation is that there really is no such thing as "failure." Training consultant Paul Hayden believes that this thing we call "failure" is actually just a reaction, and not an outcome. "Feedback will tell you whether you have been successful or not." says Hayden, in his 'Personal Success Pocketbook.' "Unsuccessful feedback is NOT failure. Failure is a reaction, not an outcome. "Changing the goal, redefining success, or not taking any corrective action... THAT is failure." Hayden contends that the success cycle is the same for everyone: - First you make a plan. - Then you put it into action. - Based on the reactions of everyone & everything involved, you receive feedback. - The feedback will show whether your action was successful or unsuccessful, and you learn from it. - Applying what you learned from the previous feedback, you make a new plan and set it into action... starting the success cycle all over again. "It is important to learn from the problems and grow stronger." says Hayden. "It is (also) important to learn from the successes and grow stronger, too." So adjust your plan, overcome the problems, build on your successes... and keep forging ahead! Turning "Failure" Into "Success!" Jim Rohn is another sought-after motivational speaker, and he believes that "If you get better, everything will get better for you. If you change, everything will change for you." So it's really important to NOT just accept things as they are, but to take active steps to turn them into WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO BE. Here are some steps you can take to achieve just that: 1) Be objective. Take a really good look at the current situation, decide what works & what needs to be changed, then plan your steps accordingly. 2) Be flexible. Learn new skills or get the latest information, so you can adapt to the changes you can't control. 3) Be confident. Remember that everyone experiences this thing called "failure," and it doesn't make you less capable of becoming what you set out to be. Focus on your strengths, remember your past successes. And KNOW that you have what it takes to see this through. 4) Find support. Surround yourself with positive people who also believe in the power of dreams, and who can help you focus on your goals as well. Although this seems like a very simple step, it actually has a very powerful effect. Many people become uncomfortable when you keep talking about your "goals and dreams," and their natural reaction is to put you down. They might think they're doing you a favor by offering "the voice of reason," but the truth is you already have a lot of negative self-talk going through your head, and it's something you really don't need more of. We create more of what we focus on, and it would bring you greater success to focus on the things you CAN do, rather than on the things you can't. So if after reading this article you return to your "failing" business, and you start feeling that maybe what I'd written simply doesn't apply to you, then just remember: Life's battles don't always go To the stronger or faster man, But sooner or later the man who wins Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN! --Source Unknown-- ...And if it makes you feel any better: *I* think you can, too. © Tatiana Velitchkov About the Author: Tatiana is the publisher of: http://www.TheFortunesEzine.com, the FortunesEzineWeekly at http://www.TakeYourFortune.com, and owner of the traffic-solution slam advertising sites http://www.Guaranteed-Hits.com and http://www.Guaranteed-Hits.net |