Tag: failure

The Mistake. Frustration. Experience. The Learning…

I Thought I Made the Worst Mistake of My Career, But 3 Things Helped Me “Embrace the Suck” and Move on. ~Emile Lee

I love stories of resilience and learning and this is a great one espoused by The Business Insider. Here Emile Lee speaks about his encounter with an overseas career assignment that was not a fit. Mistaking his cultural background, he was hired on the spot for an assignment he wasn’t fit for. After mulling over the good, the bad, and the ugly, he stopped feeling sorry for himself and decided to embrace his circumstances and learn from his situation.

Looking Back

Looking back, he shares his learning. I have extracted the 3 key points that forged his new path.

1. Embrace The Suck

2. Use positive self-talk to open yourself up to risks and change

3. Seek out mentors and internal champions

 

Hope this story inspires you to keep going and never give up. Need help? Let’s connect.

Cheers!

Brian Tracy’s 7 Steps To Success…

Would you like a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really: Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you will find success.” ~ Thomas J. Watson

7 Strategies New Entrepreneurs Lack That Cause Failure…

If planning is important, execution is everything

Done! Then Came The Hard Part…

Years ago I decided to publish my research on Success Strategies. This after interviewing heads of organizations in healthcare, media, aviation, politics, education, and such industries. I was thrilled! Hurrah I had published my first non-fiction book that was professionally edited and peer-reviewed!

Then came the hard part. I was now an author, but how could I let others know that I had written something they may benefit from? Something that if the right person receives, it would help them to succeed in business and new career ventures. Not to mention that it would drive them to take the leap and make that change in their goals, aspirations and ability to manage themselves and others?

That set me on a path... to learn what I don’t know. It’s a quest that I am still on. Tons of hard work but I’m loving it! Fast forward several years later I have published other books on success and career change, personal development and motivation.

So if you find yourself thrust into the unknown and being faced with a situation that you must confront or be left behind, take the time to assess these 7 things new entrepreneurs lack that causes them to fail to succeed.

The 7 Lacks Of New Entrepreneurship

1.Lack of Vision. Do you understand how your dreams fit into the big picture?

2. Lack of Planning. Do you know where you want to go and how to get there?

3. Lack Execution. If planning is important, execution is everything.

4. Lack of Funds. No revenue.

5. Lack of Marketing. How will others know that you exist?

6. Lack of good people. Hiring the bad. The cheap. The uncommitted.

7. Lack of Resilience. Giving up too early.

Are you a New Entrepreneur? Did any of the above resonate? Any that you think should be a part of this list? Do share. We would love to hear.

Cheers!

 

Perfection Is The Killer Of Dreams…

Perfection is the killer of dreams

Perfection is the killer of dreams. Curious, one reader questioned it. I replied….

Perfection is a common factor with high performers. We try to make our tasks as ‘perfect’ as possible much to the demise of getting goals done. We do get them done but (like an Allergic reaction), after doing them over, and over, and over again; double checking and triple checking to ensure everything is in place. Our desire is to avoid a Cacophony of our work.

Meanwhile our competitors who do not care as much, often complete their tasks even with errors. The challenge is they sometimes are accepted giving excuses for ‘errors’.
My suggestion to high performers is to double-check and get it done especially when it’s an application or something where there are others vying for the same contract or position.

So stop triple-checking. Make it Viable…just get it done.

Cheers!

To Fail Or Not To Fail? Entrepreneurs Speak…

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. ~Og Madino

To fail or not to fail? That is the question. Fail Fast. How about don’t fail at all?  That was the statement James Altucher posed in a public forum. Entrepreneurs jumped in sharing their beliefs, values and thoughts on the concept of failure.  Names have been omitted as I share excerpts:

What It Means To Fail

  • A person who hasn’t failed is more likely to have never been successful
  • The message of “fail fast” is not to encourage failure. What it speaks to is moving action with ideas instead of analysis paralysis and never-ending planning. No amount of analysis and planning can prepare you for the reality of launching something. This is what “fail fast” means. It does not mean to emphasize failure. Build it (now). Measure it. Learn from it.
  • The wisdom in “failing fast” is that you should test your ideas hard and fast. If it’s going to fail, better know sooner rather than later. But, yes, failing is not fun at all and shouldn’t be a badge f honor unless you can speak to what you have learned from it.
  • Fail fast is not supposed to be taken as a literal plan. It is a frame of mind entrepreneurs are suggested to take when there is a large unknown. The fact that it’s unknown means you have no guarantee that you won’t fail. So it makes more sense to operate in a way where you have affordable failures instead of large ones you can’t rebound from.
  • Failures are shameful, painful, and not shared. Experiment, test for the good and bad. Do something you don’t like to confirm. Get in touched with yourself. Be clear with your goals etc. You will feel more success and fewer setbacks with how you learn and experience the world.
  • We ought to believe in our ideas and craft them in a way we believe failure is not possible. The idea of “fail fast” sometimes naively lures us into playing the game to fail rather than to win
  • Is it possible to never fail and be trying new things? Pushing things to its edge or standing for things? The opposite of failure is not trying anything because its risk-free in our world. So being willing to fail and even fail big speaks to a conviction to do something maybe extraordinarily new. Failure stings …but so does living with little drive and not learning from past experiences/experiments.
  • Edison’s approach of saying he didn’t fail 100 times; he learned 100 things. I prefer to teach people and make them better not punish failure. Of course I believe in study, preparation, and teamwork to minimise the chance of failure. If our approach is “failure is not an option”, then you are like that ex-CEO of Yahoo who infamously posted how she didn’t have Plan B or Plan C, because she didn’t plan to fail. I have never met people who have used failure as a badge of honor but have met people who told me how they used an instance of failure to learn and get better.
  • If you have never failed, you haven’t pushed yourself or taken challenges and put yourself out there.

So there you have it. Entrepreneurs and leaders sharing their thoughts on failing fast. What’s your take? Do you agree?

Personally, I believe never trying is a certain path to boredom, apathy, and remaining stuck. Try something new today.

Cheers!

Mistakes: Don’t Cling. Move On…

Don’t cling to a mistake because you spent a long time making it. Look back, connect the dots. Learn from it and move on.

Cheers!

Goals: Don’t Wait. Don’t Look Back.

“Run love! Run!” Those were the words I shouted to my pre-schooler when she was running track on her first school’s sports day. We found out that she had talent very early. She started running and when she discovered that she was way out ahead of the other runners, she stopped to look back for the other kids in the race. And if that was not enough, she decided to wait on them to catch up with her. It was a hilarious sight! Indeed it was no surprise when she became Famous for this little feat.

But aren’t we a lot like that at times? We are making huge progress towards our goals, dreams, and aspirations, then we stop. It seems too good to be true. We wait and before realize it, we have missed our path and go off track.

As we approach mid-year, how have you been progressing towards your goal? Personally, I am progressing well in some areas but in others as life’s busyness steps in, I stagnate and fall behind. Thank goodness for my awareness that keeps me going.

What about you? How have been progressing? Do share. We would love to hear.

Cheers!

Overnight Success. Truth or Myth?

It’s Not Their Dream. It’s Yours. Never Give Up.

Kevin Hart shares his 20-Year Journey to Overnight Success.

ArchaicDoppelgänger

Overnight success. Do you believe it to be true, or is it just a myth? Do share. We would love to hear!

Cheers!

How To Evaluate Your Career…

Stuck? Fed up? Not sure what to do? Pondering when to make the move? Having the toss up between career and entrepreneurship?

Embrace the conversation on evaluating your career and opportunities. In this interview, Kerry-Ann Reid-Brown and I share early career mistakes and how we do things differently because of what we learned from those mistakes. Listen as we shared laughter, Assumptions, regrets and key learnings on steps you can take to evaluate where your career is heading.

Want to know what to do with your career now? Let’s connect.

Cheers!

The Power of U-Turns…

pexels-photo-891123.jpeg

Strive and Reach for what you can Achieve

My eyes caught the attention of an article titled “Giving up”. It quickly sparked my interest because I usually steer away from ever giving up. In my youth I did track, and for all those athletes out there, you know just how much effort it takes to get in shape. To stick to your goal. To become fit and ready for that race. As I advanced into maturity, the same held true for me. It became the very grain of my existence. During college, and career advancement, I never gave up. Now as a consultant and coach, I Mentor and encourage entrepreneurs, managers, and employees, to stick to their goals, dreams, and aspirations.

That article reminded me of another I had read about success and fear. Both fear and the desire to give up intertwine and cripple us, often fueling negative thoughts and actions. There are many individuals who throw away their lives becoming lethargic, stuck, wasted, straying away from their goals, get into trouble, end up self-imprisoned, or worse. Not to mention those dying at age 25, yet buried at 75.

I say burst that Bubble! It is delightful to strive and reach for what you can achieve!

The Power Of U-Turns

Enter the power of U-Turns. U-Turns remind us to get up, dust off, find a mentor or support system, and get back on track.

The writer in  the first article “Giving up” concluded with a twist. He suggested being wise enough to know when to stop, refuel, and get back on track. So make that U-Turn today. Shake off that fear. Shake off the very thought of giving up…and as Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. Apply it to yourself. Be your change today.

Need help? Let’s connect.

Cheers!