How do you feel about failure?
What do you do every time you fail?
Do you stay down and cry? Or do you get up, dust yourself and try again?
Take a moment to think about these questions because your response and emotion to failure are the single most important factors to your success.
A study conducted by the Northwestern University’ Kellogg School of Management showed that failing early in your career increases your chances of future success.
Let’s be honest. You are going to fail along the way.
You must not allow failure to stop you from achieving your dreams. You must not allow the fear of failure… stop you from taking risks.
The key is not to let our fear of failure keep us from taking action.
The greatest mistake you can ever make is to give in to fear, that is… the fear of failure.
If you are afraid of taking the necessary steps, decisions and action you need to pursue what you really want to do right now…then you are suffering from the fear of failure.
The fear of failure will rob you of happiness, wealth, and success in life.
Fear will suck the life out of you…fear will turn you into a zombie…fear will make you show up for the job you hate just because you have to pay your bills.
The fear of failure will force you to remain in an unhappy relationship…living with the fear of failure feels like being stuck in a rut – that is an open grave with its ends kicked out.
The good news is you don’t have to live your life like this any more.
I am going to show you how to break free from the shackles of the unending cycle of failure..that you have been experiencing. In fact you will find out that failing is not a bad experience to have.
Yes you heard right…”That you failed at a business or in a relationship is not the end of your life. “
I believe you need to fail to succeed.
Why? Because when you fail at something and learn from the event…your chances of overcoming your past failing and becoming successful are higher.
The following passage from the bible talks about why failure is good for success…
“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”- John 12:24
The moral of this holy passage is that … To achieve success, you will fail and make mistakes on the journey to accomplish what you truly desire.
Let’s talk about why failure is good for success.
Failure is good for success because they are the events that build our character and test our resolve to accomplish what we truly want in life.
When you make mistakes and experience setbacks, which you must…and get up each time you fail forward.
Renowned British writer CS Lewis said
“Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success”.
How do you fail forward? The answer is you need courage. You must have the courage to act in the face of your fear of failure.
Robert F. Kennedy said
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
Winston Churchill said
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”.
Courage is what you need when you feel that the odds are against you to be successful at what you want to do.
Courage is what you need to overcome your doubts about making it in business, building wealth …or getting to the top of your career.
To have courage is to feel the fear of doing what you really want to do…and doing it anyway.
Susan Jeffers, bestselling author of Feel the fear and do it anyway said the only reason the majority of people are afraid to do what they really want to do is because…they think they cannot handle the consequence of failure.
- What’s the worst that can happen?
- Taking action-ready-fire-aim
- Faith and persistence
I know about the pain that comes with failing!
I also know what it takes to bounce back up. Because I have had the courage after every crash in my career, business and relationships over the last few years.
I would like to share a story…about one of my many crashes and how I bounced back…
I hope it will help you deal with whatever situation you are dealing with right now.
A few years ago..at the start of my real estate investing career… I bought a three bedroom apartment in South London in the belief that “You cannot go wrong with real estate investing”.
Well to my shock and surprise… my decision to buy this apartment turned out to be the worst and costliest financial mistake I have ever made.
Everything that could ever go wrong with investing in a property went wrong! …Because I had not done my due diligence, I had to fork out over $6000 for a joint repair due for the roofing of the building.
The Homeowners Association fees were nearly 20% of the cost of the mortgage. I had to pay $5000 to fix the outdated heating system …. This property was like Freddy Krueger in the movie Nightmare on Elm Street! It felt like I was having nightmares and then waking up to experience the financial nightmare about the property.
My decision to invest in this property took a hit on my mental health. For the first time in my life I was having panic attacks every time I saw the property’s mortgage statement or whenever I got a call about the property.
I was winding down a financial hole…until one day …when I felt I had a lifeline to deliver me from financial hell. I saw a light at the end of my dark money tunnel.
You see, it is at those times when you are desperate… that you find inspiration. Because at the time … you have no choice anyway…but to find a way out of hell.
Yes I found a way out of hell!. I remember clearly the very moment…when I had my flash of inspiration. It was one of those days that I was driving to work… listening to a motivational tape by Jim Rohn.
Jim Rohn said
”There will always be winter, spring, summer and fall…sunshine and darkness. You’ve got to work with them” …and when the hard times come as it must…do not wish things were easy, instead ask for wisdom”.
Wow ! I was blown away by the statement. Do not wish it were easy, instead ask for wisdom. In other words, Jim was implying that the key to overcoming failure was to get wisdom and develop the skills that will allow you to overcome your challenges.
Jim Rohn also said your beliefs in life were an important factor in your success.
The two lessons I learned listening to Jim that allowed me to bounce back were: Having the right beliefs and getting the skills to overcome my setbacks.
How did I apply these two factors-the right belief and developing skills to bounce back?
The first thing I did was question the belief that “you can’t go wrong with real estate investing”.
After careful reflection and looking at my actions…I found out you can invest in real estate and lose all your money if done for the wrong reasons. I had blindly invested money in a neighborhood that I knew nothing about…I did not do my due diligence about rental prices, maintenance and other expenses that come with owning a property in the area.
The next thing I did was to immerse myself in learning about real estate investing.
Why? Because I found out I was clueless about many things…zoning laws,tenancy agreements, property taxes and much more. I started attending seminars. I bought books on real estate investing, I joined a Landlord Association, property investor networks..made friends with realtors in the area…built a contact list of plumbers, electricians, roofers, and anyone connected to fixing up properties.
As I took action on digging myself out of my self-made money pit… I slept better at night…and even though I was still in debt, I had confidence that I would get back up on my feet.
The good news is, I bounced back and applied the lessons I learned from my disastrous experience of real estate investing to become a better and successful landlord. Yipee!
I was able to learn from my mistakes, bounce back on my feet and I am now a winner!
That’s my story…
How about your story? Are you going through hell right now? Does the fear of failure paralyze you because of your past experience at trying and failing?
There is hope that you can win. Because your past does not decide your future.
You can bounce back from past mistakes. Yes, you can win and live your dreams.
With the right mindset, failure can be a great teacher. The hard thing is to learn from failure and keep on trying.
I encourage you this week to learn from your failures, acknowledge your successes and keep moving forward.
I would love to hear your stories of failure. Get in touch.
To your success!
