Success Guideline

There are many differences that separate the winners in business and life from those who are struggling and falling by the wayside.

One big difference is how they handle failure. Successful entrepreneurs have a positive mindset around the experience of failure.

When they fail, they look at it as a result. They took “x” steps and produced “y” result. “Y” didn’t work, so it’s back to the drawing board to change the formula and try again.

Many new business owners don’t make it out of the gate because as soon as they fail, they figure, “Who am I kidding? I knew it wouldn’t work” and then quit!

If everyone had that mindset, we wouldn’t have electricity, airplanes, vaccines … actually, we’d have pretty much nothing!

Every single success in this world was preceded by one, two — a thousand failures!

Babe Ruth set a record for the most home runs. Did you know he also had the record for the most strikeouts?

Thomas Edison failed more than a thousand times before he perfected the light bulb.

If you’re not failing, you’re not pushing yourself enough. You are remaining in your comfort zone and cannot expect to reach the level of success you’re capable of.

Failure is what allows you to learn and grow. If you quit as soon as you meet with failure, you will always remain exactly where you are.

Albert Einstein once said, “You cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.”

And, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

What these statements teach is, in order to overcome failure, you must think differently and act differently. It is what separates the ordinary from the extraordinary!

You might have to seek out guidance from someone else who can offer the expertise you need. You may need to inject new perspectives and talent by forming a team around your project.

Fear of failure is one of the biggest obstacles that hold new business owners back. Failure should not be feared, but embraced because a life lived in fear is a life half lived.

If you’re stuck and unable to move forward because of fear of failure or because you have failed in your previous attempt, bring someone else into the mix to offer support and guidance.

Tweak your plan and give it another go.

Engrave the words of the following masters into your mind and never, EVER give up.

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

He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat. - Napoleon I

Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. - Robert Schuller

2006 © Laurie Hayes - The HBB Source

Laurie Hayes, founder and visionary behind The HBB Source

Share This

The story of David’s victory over Goliath has inspired millions of “little” people to believe that, even though the odds were against them, they could win. It is the story of a young shepherd boy who no one had ever heard of, but who defeated a giant with a single stone from his sling, and who rocketed to fame, fortune, and success.

We might think that David was simply lucky. Maybe he just happened to be at the right place at the right time. But are there things we can we learn from David that will help us do what he did? Can we learn from David’s victory over Goliath how we can slay our own giants and become overnight successes?

Build Your Confidence - Face The Daily Challenges

When the king told David that he would not be able to defeat Goliath, David answered, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:34-37)

David’s confidence that he could defeat Goliath came from having overcome similar challenges while simply working for his father. Because David had learned to trust God in his day-to-day life, just doing his job, he had developed the faith to overcome any problem.

Becoming an overnight success requires that we have confidence when our big opportunity comes. That confidence is built over time as we learn to trust God and overcome our daily challenges.

Don’t Give Up - Face The Criticism

In 1 Samuel 17:28 it says, “When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, ‘Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.’”

When we realize that Eliab had just spent forty days being afraid of Goliath, it’s easy to understand why he got so upset when his little brother said, “I’ll kill him.” Eliab was embarrassed that David had more faith and courage than he did, and it was Eliab’s doubt and fear that made him so angry with David.

In order for us to become overnight successes, we will have to learn how to face criticism. And even if the people closest to us are the harshest critics, we need to understand that the fears that have kept them from pursuing their dreams can cause them to be hard on us.

Use Your Creativity - Face The Giant

When David first announced that he would kill Goliath, he probably didn’t know how he was going to do it. As we read the story we see that he tried to wear the king’s armor, but realized that it would not work (1 Samuel 17:38-39).

But something that we learn from David through this incident is that it’s OK to make mistakes, as long as we don’t go too far. Once we realize something isn’t working, we need to change what we’re doing. We don’t have to give up on our dream; we just need to change how we have been trying to reach it.

We will need to be creative and use our strengths if we want to become overnight successes. The king’s armor would have been fine for the king, but not for David. Instead, David looked at his experience and skills, trusted in God, and found a solution to his gigantic problem by using his sling.

Prepare For The Long Haul - Face The Facts

I once heard about an interview with a famous rock musician who had catapulted to success after releasing a live album. The interviewer asked, “What was it like to become an overnight success?” The rock musician replied, “For me it was carrying my equipment in and out of dingy, smoke-filled bars, night after night for fifteen years, until we released that album.”

David’s goal was to become the king of Israel. His victory over Goliath played a major role in helping him accomplish that goal. But defeating Goliath was not all that he had to do.

Many people have big dreams for their lives, but few of them see those dreams become a reality. The time and effort that it takes to overcome the problems and obstacles that every successful person must face, the Goliaths that they have to defeat, seem to be too great.

Everyone who wants to be successful will have to build their confidence, stand firm in the face of criticism, find ways to use their strengths, and commit to reaching their dreams no matter how long it takes. Because the simple truth is, it takes a long time to become an overnight success.

Share This

Far too many people give up on their plans and dreams when faced by one or two obstacles. Some of these obstacles are purely imaginary. A classic example of this can be found in the life of the legendary rebel, Bonnie Prince Charlie.

On the 4th December 1745, Prince Charlie and about five thousand Jacobite Highlanders reached Derby, a hundred and thirty miles north of London, the centre of the Hanoverian monarchy of George II.

They had heavily defeated Government troops at the battle of Prestonpans and were marching on London with hardly any opposition at all.

A war council was held. Some, like Charles, were for pressing on to London but others, like his senior commander George Murray, wanted to return to Scotland.

Murray had some good reasons on his side. The Jacobites had not been joined by new recruits and there was no sign of a supporting French army arriving in the South of England as had been promised.

A key interruption to the meeting then took place. A government spy called Dudley Bradstreet, with impeccable Jacobite credentials, arrived and announced that a government army of 9000 men was blocking the path to London.

This was a lie! No such army existed. King George II was already packing his bags to leave for Hanover. In addition, a French invasion in support of Charles was on the brink of crossing the channel. Victory was imminent.

But the council were intimidated by the imaginary obstacle and managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. They had 5000 men but imagined that they were facing 9000.

Charles, to his credit, still wanted to press on but he was outvoted and, burning with resentment, had to agree that his army return to Scotland.

The Jacobites had missed a great chance to restore the house of Stuart as monarchs of a United Kingdom. The momentum of the rebellion was lost and in April 1746 the Jacobites were defeated at Culloden far to the north near Inverness. The rebellion was put down mercilessly.

Charles was never betrayed by his Scots followers and managed to escape from Scotland in Sept 1746. He spent the rest of his life in Europe a disillusioned and embittered man. He died in Rome many years later. His story is immortalized in Scottish poetry and music but his life remains a romantic dream.

However, his dream could have so easily become a miraculous reality. His generals are more to blame than he is. However, they are not alone in their failure to ignore or at least check out an imaginary difficulty.

Many dreamers give up at ‘Derby’ because of some imaginary obstacle.

If these dreamers had only kept going they would have found out that the difficulties were imaginary ones or could have been overcome with a little more knowledge or a little more effort. They think they are facing 9000 difficulties but are only facing one - their own fear and lack of confidence.

Charles and his generals could have sent out scouts to check out the ‘army’ of 9000 men but fear tends to cause panic and paralysis and lack of common sense.

Looking back on my own life so far, I hate to think of the number of opportunities I have missed because of giving up at the first or second obstacle or the first or second failure

I gave up any attempts to cook after an episode in the boy scouts when I was in charge of the Sunday roast dinner at the camp site. I lifted the roast beef out of the tin we were roasting it in and dropped it - we didn’t have oven gloves!

It rolled down a small hill and when I had removed the dirt and grass, I found that the meat was raw underneath a well cooked exterior. I think we ended up eating sausages instead.

Years later, I still cannot cook. Subconsciously, I probably believed I lacked the skill. In reality, all I lacked was a little knowledge and patience. I could quite easily have checked out how long it took to cook beef over an open fire by asking the scoutmaster and, with patience, could have figured out a less painful way to remove the beef from the tin.

I won’t bore you with further incidents from my own experience. I expect you may have some from yours when obstacles and failures became mountains instead of the molehills they really were.

Of course some obstacles are real and cannot be overcome but history shows again and again how a little perseverance and a little belief can bring victory and fulfilment against what seem to be gigantic obstacles.

The next time you feel like giving up because of some obstacle or apparent failure remember the Bonnie Prince and his generals at Derby and make the decision to keep going south in the direction of your dream.

About the author

John Watson is an award winning teacher and fifth degree black belt martial arts instructor. He has recently written several books about achieving your goals and dreams.

They can be found on his website http://www.motivationtoday.com along with a motivational message and books by other authors

Ezine editors / Site owners

Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site but please include the resource box above.

Share This