Failure As A learning experience 

You’re probably wondering how to go from failure to success, but that’s not the first thing to ask. Have you ever wondered why so many people are afraid of failure? It doesn’t make sense when you think about it. People learn the most when they make a mistake. It gives you a chance to see what does and doesn’t work. Failure is the greatest teacher you will ever have. The only time failure is truly a bad thing is when you decide not learn use it as a learning experience.

How To Deal With Failure In A Positive Way

Everyone will have their own way of dealing with failure. The thing to keep in mind is that failure happens everyday. Many people actually make a habit out of failing by trying more things. You may be the best at one thing but fail at another. If you aren’t failing at something then you probably aren’t trying enough new things or you’re limiting yourself. Many people would consider that failure. Consider all the positive things that come from failure.

Failure Is Not An Option

If you don’t let failures hold you back then it won’t be an option. Any time you fail at something it is a chance to grow and change directions. Maybe you are learning to garden and you accidently used the wrong approach to weed control and killed your plants or maybe your advertising campaign isn’t working. Whatever your perceived failure is use it as a chance to be better tomorrow. Don’t let failure become an option when it can be a learning lesson.

Take More Chances

If you aren’t failing regularly then you probably aren’t taking enough chance. Many people think of failure is a pillar of success because it teaches you so quickly. People don’t like to fail so when they do they learn quickly. Babies start out walking by falling. They don’t stop learning to walk because they fell. How many times have you tried something new and quit immediately after failing? If it was more than once you aren’t taking enough chances. Anytime you get a chance to learn take the opportunity. Any opportunity to learn is an opportunity well spent.

Start Over With A New Direction

Failure will give you immediate feedback about whatever you are doing. This gives you a chance to go back to the drawing board quickly. If you fail at something take a step back and look at what you did wrong. You are learning from your mistakes. Learning is how you overcome failure. When you take a step back you will have the chance to try something new or pivot in a new direction. Don’t let failure hold you back when you could be one try away from succeeding.

At first failure may seem like it is the worst thing that could happen. Over time you will realize that each time you have failed you have grown in some way. Look at failure for the positive things it does in your life. If you let failure get you down it will be harder to keep going towards your goals and dreams.

The Most Successful People Fail 

We’re lucky to live in a world where we can learn about someone on the internet. You’d be amazed at how autobiographies and biographies exist today. Every single famous person you know the name of has failed in some way. Many have failed thousands of times before getting recognized. Failure is an opportunity for growth and learning. You don’t have to fail yourself to learn, that may even be the best type of failure to learn from.

Some of the most influential people of history have had to fail before eventually reaching their goals. A few examples are Thomas Edison, Michael Jordan, and Steve Jobs.

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison is credited for the invention of the light bulb. What many people don’t know is that at one point in time he was told he was “too stupid learn anything” by a teacher. In the process of inventing the lightbulb he failed at least 1,000 times before getting something that worked. When asked about his 1,000 failures he would reply “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The lightbulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.” Thanks to those 1,000 steps you have lights in your house.

Michael Jordan

Many today know Michael Jordan for the successful line of shoes by NIKE, the championships while he played for the Chicago Bulls, and staring in Space Jam. Though he has become wildly successful and well known he was actually cut from his high school’s varsity basketball team. That failure pushed him to work harder. He knows that failure has created his success and it shows in this quote “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Steve Jobs

Credited for bringing Apple to the forefront of computers, phones and MP3 technology. Steve Jobs had a major failure that could have caused anyone to spiral into depression. He was let go from his own company. Recognizing that he had made a mistake he went on to buy Pixar and start another computer company NeXT. Though NeXT wasn’t as big a hit as Pixar the whole thing was a great lesson. After the success of Pixar Steve Jobs ended up back at the head of Apple. He showed that learning from your failures can bring you back better than ever.

Learn From Those Who Came Before

Learning from other people’s mistakes gives you a chance to understand what not to do before doing it. There are thousands of biographies and autobiographies out there that give you a look into the lives of others. It is amazing what you can learn from the people that came before you.

If reading biographies and autobiographies isn’t your style, have you considered a mentor? Mentors are people that have already done something you want to do. Some mentors may be many steps ahead of you while others are only one. Mentors are there to help you grow and learn from their mistakes. They will also help when you make mistakes by pointing you in the right direction.

Don’t Get Discouraged

Failure is not something you should let bring you down. It is one of the best things that could happen to you. When you fail you know that you took a chance. From taking that chance you had an opportunity to learn. Learning is the most important part of growing as a person or growing a business. You don’t think that people because successful without failure do you?

Remember the only thing that is holding you back is fear of failure. If you think about it failure is an opportunity to learn. Why on earth would you be scared of learning? Get out there and start failing more. But make sure that every time you fail you are learning and using that knowledge to grow yourself or your business. Life is to short to be fearful of failure.

If you thought this was helpful subscribe to our newsletter and comment about a failure you’ve had that made you more successful. Don’t forget to share and like us on Facebook.

Changing Your Life With The Law of Averages

The law of averages is the idea that over time everything will eventually work its way to equilibrium. When you think about it that means everything around you is becoming more average. This concept is really important when you think about who you spend your time with. Are your friends and family struggling to get by or are they successful? Depending on how you answered that question you should be able to reflect on what they’re doing and see how things are most likely going to be for you.

It’s important to understand that just because your friends and family act a certain doesn’t mean you have to do the same thing. It only takes one person to change your life. One person make a positive impact on you that pushes you in the right direction. Look at the people you spend your time with and ask yourself “Do I want to be like these people?” if the answer is “Yes” then you’re doing something right. If you answered “No” then it’s time we look at how the people around you impact your life.

How People Influence You

There are many ways that the people around you influence your life. Peer pressure is a really difficult thing to work around. If your friends and family are making certain choices it’s more likely that you will too. It’s hard to go against what the social norms are when it comes to your group. You can become an outcast and we are programmed to avoid becoming an outcast. What you need to remember is the choices you make can only truly affect you. Don’t let the choices of other influence you into doing something that doesn’t improve your life.

The more time you spend with successful people the more you will realize that success comes from the choices you make. If your friends are saving 10% of their income it is more likely that you will too. Start small and find one person that is a good influence on your life. Find someone that has the same goals, aspirations, and dreams as you. This person should be more experienced than you and can help you out. It only takes one person to change your life. Remember that your net worth will be based on your network.

Law of Averages

The law of averages is an important thing to understand. In the most basic form it states that over time things will become more similar. Earlier I mentioned that it means we reach an equilibrium. Both of these ideas are true. The law of averages can really make a difference in your life because you become like your friends. If your friends are successful you will be successful. If you friends watch every new movie you are more likely to watch every new movie.

Life likes to balance itself out. That means if you want to balance out higher or become above average you are going to need to do above average things. One of those above average things you can do is create a network of successful people to spend time with. If you surround yourself with success you will eventually become successful. This happens through a process of mimicry. Find the people that have successful habits and follow in their footsteps. Some of the habits will be difficult but others will happen naturally without you know. Remember it’s easier to change things one step at a time. Don’t go big and give up. Start small and pyramid your success into bigger success.

Help Others Achieve More

One way to help build your network is to help others. Now that you’re in the mindset of looking for successful people to help you, get out there and help others. Giving to others is one of the best ways to have others give to you. You don’t need to be the best at something to help someone learn. In reality you only need to be one step ahead of the person you’re teaching. Do what you can to help others and add value to their lives and it will not only grow your network but it will make you feel good about yourself. Feeling good about yourself is one step towards becoming more successful. You’re also building that network so you’re killing two birds with one stone!

No One Achieves Success Alone

Contrary to what most people believe success isn’t about being self made. Success is about surrounding yourself with people that can help you achieve more. The people you surround yourself with are everything. At any point in time someone you know may bring you the opportunity that changes your life. Don’t forget that you may be the person in someone else’s life that changes their whole world. Be social but know that you need to look for people that aspire to bigger things than what they have today. There is nothing wrong with big dreams!

Let’s Get Started

It’s time to get serious about your network and who you spend your time with. Here are 6 steps to improve your network so you can achieve more.

1. Write down 3 traits of the person you want to become.
2. Create a list with the 5 people you spend most of your time around.
3. Write down the 3 most common traits of each person.
4. Compare these 15 traits to the traits you want to have. If the traits don’t match decide if this person is helping you or hurting your dreams of becoming successful. If they are hurting your dreams mark them off. This doesn’t mean you have to drop all contact with them it just means that you are more knowledgeable about the situation.
5. Now it’s time to find replacements for the people that you have marked off. This doesn’t need to happen quickly. Some great places to find successful people are Toastmasters meetings, Real Estate Investment Associations, networking events, or events related to you hobbies. It is easy to find these groups using the Meetup app.
6. Now that you are working on growing your network, share this idea with other people that you think will benefit from meeting new people. You can never know too many people and you can never help too much.

Don’t forget that no one succeeds alone. The people around you are going to make all the difference. Find the best and eventually you will be the best!