Success Is Down the Road from Failure

Written by Lee Woods, B.S., MBA, CRCST@InnovateNewAlbany9 years ago

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One of the best “Great Player” combinations was Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. On the field this dynamic duo read each other in a supernatural way. They made impossible plays look easy! Joe Montana and Jerry Rice had individual and collective drive, a strong work ethic, vision and instinct.

In tough situations, Joe Montana never threw the ball to Jerry Rice. He always threw the ball where he knew Jerry Rice would be. I would bet my last dollar that this type of skillful playing came after many failed tries. Joe Montana and Jerry Rice discovered a very important key to success, which is evident in the monumental success they achieved.

Are you aiming in the right direction? Many entrepreneurs get stuck in the moment. When something doesn’t go as planned or looks like failure, they feel lost or simply quit. Today, I want to change how you view failure. I’m here to change your perspective concerning success and failure. Why? Because you have a skillset and talent the world needs. If you don’t try or quit at the first failure, then the world will miss your gift!

My favorite quote by Jack Hyles helped me to change how I viewed failure. It helped me stay in the game. I hope it does the same for you…

As an entrepreneur, you need belief, discipline, and mindset to overcome your fear of failure. Look to the greats that endured public failure. Oprah Winfrey, Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg, R.H. Macy, Soichiro Honda, J. K. Rowling, and Michael Jordan. This is just a small list of people who stayed focused, endured failure, and took their stand on the shoulders of success. These individuals never gave up, aimed their dream further down the road, and left the corner of failure.

You determine whether or not you fail or succeed. There are countless examples of people who succeeded with nothing…success isn’t about money. It’s about belief, discipline, and a mindset that says no matter what happens I will live my dream.

As an entrepreneur, you need to believe that failure will lead to success. Stop looking where you fell and look to where you slipped (Proverb quote), and don’t quit! Every path has its puddles. Be prepared to jump, walk around, or simply walk through your puddles on the journey of becoming who you were always meant to be!

In my last blog, I shared that being an entrepreneur is personal. It’s an inward nagging, a desire to make a difference, a talent, a conviction. Entrepreneur, do not be shaken by fear of failure…instead be shaped by it!

Change your perspective of failure! Be thankful for failure! Fellow entrepreneurs, this is the ingredient to success. Embracing failure weakens the defeating attributes it holds over you. Changing your perspective of failure stops you from:

• Negative self-talk
• Self-loathing
• Inaction
• Never trying

When you change your perspective of failure:

• Drive is fueled
• Discipline is anchored
• Passion is encouraged

William D. Brown said, “failure is an event, never a person, an attitude, not an outcome”. Plan to fail. Plan to succeed. Both require the same amount of energy. Anchor your belief in yourself and never quit. Let discipline pull you through the tough stuff. Allow your attitude to advance you and give momentum to your dreams. Don’t fret, avoid, or question yourself when failure shows up in your journey as an entrepreneur. Don’t allow fear of failing rob you of the joy of succeeding.

Joe Montana and Jerry Rice realized in tough situations on the field, they needed to aim in the right direction. Joe Montana threw the ball where he knew Jerry Rice wanted to be. They knew where the team was aiming to go, so they lost sight of where they were in the tough situation. This dynamic duo looked failure in the eye and said, “not today,” and won many games!

Entrepreneur, it starts with your vision of greatness. Your success is just down the road from failure. A legacy of achievement awaits you! One final push forward to your new way of thinking. “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” — Dale Carnegie

Lee Woods, CRCST, MBA, of LSP Resource Consulting, is involved in business and strategic planning, education, training, and compliance for healthcare facilities.