• The Fear of Failure…is Failure.
• Failure is not an option…it is a necessity.
• Failure is…the staircase to Success.

If your gonna do it...you might as well do it epic!

We hear many things that describe what success is, what it should be, how we should handle it when it comes, how to pursue it, etc.  One of the few things we hear about, and seem to always avoids when possible is the topic of Failure…especially when it is our own failure.  So, to start off with three bullet points that proclaim that failure is necessary may seem a bit odd and off-putting at first.

The fact is, failure is a necessity towards the achievement of success.  As the third bullet point states, the staircase to success is made of failure – and that makes sense if you think about it.  Success is the final destination for our plans or goals – (you do have plans and goals don’t you?).   The fact is, to actually get to the success we want, we must face that fact that along the way we will have some failure – that is, things will not go the way we hoped, ideas will not pan out, people will disappoint, or…maybe we will crash our dirt-bike.  The fact is, things are going to go wrong in varying degrees.  This “staircase to Success” does  not have uniform sized steps (don’t tell OSHA!), the failures that make up these steps vary from little almost unnoticeable little bumps, to eight foot wall-sized giants that you have to scale.

The fact is, these steps of failure are only steps as long as you are willing to do two things:

1.) Get back up and dust yourself off.

2.) Learn from the failure and use that knowledge to step up.

Remember, success is little more than getting up one more time then you fall down…and you will fall down.  As Soichiro Honda (founder of Honda Corporation) said – “Success is 99% failure”.

How true that is.

So how do we get into the proper frame of mind to build success on our failures and see those failures as lessons and/or directions that lead us to success?

One word: Humility.

Let me tell you an unflattering story about myself that demonstrates this: The other day a man selling magazines came to the door of my house – a door which my wife had placed a “Happy Easter” sign on.  Well, I am not too keen on door to door salesmen.  After an initial pleasant greeting by the man, I curtly asked if he was “selling something” and that I was not interested.  He kept smiling, said “God Bless!”, waved and went on his way.  I went back into my house smugly thinking that “I told him!”

What was blatantly obvious to everyone but me, however, was that I had been rude and frankly disrespectful to a man who was just trying to make a living in a very difficult job in a very bad economy.  My wife was quick to point this out (I thank God for her!) – I quickly realized just how awful I had failed in a relationship with another human being. I had missed an opportunity to speak life into another persons day.

Some think that avoiding failure is paramount; so much so that it is to be avoided at all costs. This is actually a form of destructive pride.  Humility is understanding that we are not perfect (not even close), that we have things to learn, we need to grow, that we have weaknesses and missing parts, and most importantly we are nearly blind most of the time.  That being the case, our failures are a teacher that helps us to see better, and to see our own areas of need.

What should my next response be after realizing how I had failed (and had failed to even notice it without my wife’s help)? Well, I could sit and stew about it, try to rationalize it, or I could learn from it and remember the next time I have to answer the door for a salesman  not forget to put myself in the place of the other person before I speak or act.

The bigger lesson here is: Humility in our failure allows us to Learn from it, and Grow big enough to take the next step.

Reality is only too willing to leave us at the step we are at – and allow us to keep falling until we are ready to grow a bit more.

Failure.  Embrace it as a teacher and the map to all of your success.

-DTM

Run Forrest, Run!

And with that we see a poignant story about a unique man who seemingly walks into fame and fortune without even noticing. This man, Forrest Gump, from his name to his demeanor seems ridiculous, and retarded. But, as his momma told him…Stupid is, as stupid does.

I could not help but notice deep truths that were buried in this gem of a movie/novel that has been part of some serious political discussions and even controversy. What I want to focus on is how a simple man of simple truths can indeed walk through life and push the problems it brings with it aside almost as if those problems were nothing more than smoke.

The first truth that Forrest utters we have already quoted: “Stupid is as Stupid does…” The fact that Forrest is a bit slow is completely balanced by the fact that he believes in black and white truth. Stupid people are those who do stupid things – and it is ironic that it is Jenny he says this too first, as she epitomizes stupidity throughout the movie with every act she takes, except for the one of being Forrest’s friend, and at the end of the movie, finally his love.

The other thing that Forrest does is that he never accepts failure, in fact he is incapable of even imagining what failure is. He simply does whatever he does. Once he has decided on a course, he simply does it, obstacles are nothing more that a challenge that has to be met, without any consideration of being stopped by them. In other words, do…or do not. Anything else is just you standing in the way.

There are many other things in this story that I could point to, but these two are the real gems that if we put into practice in our own lives, will lead to success in our endeavors:

1.)Don’t do stupid things.
2.)Whatever you have decided to do, do.

Ability varies, education is not wisdom, and unemployed geniuses can be found on every street corner. The truth is that those who succeed have decided that they will succeed long before they even set their hand to their next project.

Success is as Success does.

David T. McKee