New Business

Do you know one of the main reasons people stop short of reaching their goals? At some stage along the journey something unexpected happens, or maybe they make a mistake and they say "I failed!"

The problem with labelling something as having 'failed' is that it means it's the end of a process. In other words it's over. It also begins to build a belief of being incapable and if you look at something in that kind of way do you think you'll feel more or less motivated?  

Marketing expert Jay Conrad Levinson says even the word 'failure' is a turn off and should be avoided in marketing materials because it causes people to lose interest.

The truth is that the most worthwhile things we can ever accomplish are often the result of trial and error, aren't they? Therefore, we sometimes need to look at things a little differently.

In 'The Master Strategist' by Ketan J Patel, he says "The attitude of the strategist is that there is no such thing as failure, there is only the situation and the lesson."

 Albert Einstein said "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

 I read an interview with William Hague, who said "As you get older, there's no such thing as total success or total failure in life."

When you focus on failure you feel the pain. So instead of framing something as a 'failure', doesn't treating it as 'feedback' seem far more useful?

What if we were to think of our mis-takes as simply learning in progress - as just one step among many?

Let me share a story with you. Several years ago someone I know very well was asked to help set up a business. Over a period of about five years this business grew to employ over fifty people and became very profitable.

My friend, along with a colleague, arranged a meeting with the owner, to review their remuneration package to reflect their considerable input into the success of this business. At this meeting, they were told to their absolute surprise and total shock, that the company was in the process of being sold. Worse still, there was no reward for their hard work. Obviously, they were not happy but what should they do?

Part of the terms of the sale was that there would be no significant changes to the business. So my friend and his colleague thought about what they should do and went back to the owner. They said they would be happy to oversee the transition to the new owners and keep things on an even keel but only on the basis that they worked just one day a week for the next year! The owner had to agree because otherwise it would jeopardise the sale (which, by the way, was for several million pounds). 

They then gave themselves one year to start and make a success of their own business but this time to be totally in control.

Over the following year they tried several ideas and some did alright and some didn't. But they ended up having one success. And what a success it was because after only five years they sold this business for over one hundred million pounds! They created incredible wealth. Significantly they made massively more than the owner of the previous business had received.

There was, of course, a slice of luck involved but the reason this happened was because they never lost sight of the larger outcome, which was to build a successful business and receive the appropriate rewards. They never once said "I failed". Instead they quickly got over their unwelcome surprise and moved on.  

The secret of success is not what happens to you in life but how you choose to deal with it.

Copyright of Dashfield Coaching and Development Ltd

John Dashfield is a leading business and personal success coach. He uses many powerful and unique tools that help business people grow profits, save time and lead more inspiring lives. Often challenging popular thinking, John’s vision is to help businesses and the people in them live in harmony within the community and the environment as well as achieving financial success. To receive more thought provoking free articles from John Dashfield visit http://www.dashfield.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The Secret Of Success