Identify someone you consider to be successful and ask that person how many failures he or she had before success came. I guarantee you that any successful person had to learn failure before success. That's what learning is all about: doing it wrong in order to get it right. We don't all succeed at everything we try. Most of us go through failure to reach success, just as we go through fear in order to build courage.
Weightlifting is a great example to illustrate this process of going through failure to reach success. Years ago, when I started building up my scrawny 112 pound body through weight training, my first instructor introduced me to the concept of "going for failure." I didn't think that sounded so fun-"Let's go fail!"-but my coach explained that breaking a muscle down by exhausting it totally was the best way to build it stronger. By going to failure, I prepared my muscles for greater success." I failed so that I eventually could succeed.
Life is no different. Failure is a necessary part of growing and building strength to eventually succeed. Consider the case of a lanky Midwestern boy who chopped wood for his father until he was twenty-one, but who had always hungered for more out of life. He started borrowing books and reading every evening. What he read began to inspire and motivate him to become a risk-taker in the pursuit of success. He was willing to fail in order to succeed, and fail is exactly what he did:
- At age 23 he ran as a candidate for state legislature and lost.
- At age 30 he was bankrupt.
- At age 32 the woman he loved and intended to marry broke off the engagement breaking his heart.
- At age 33 he married another woman who bore him four sons, of which three he lost because they died before reaching adulthood.
- At age 35 he ran again as a candidate for state legislature and again he lost.
- At age 47 he was selected a vice-presidential candidate and again he lost.
- At age 49 he was nominated for the United States Senate and again he lost.
The man described above, however, was elected President of the United States of America at age 51. His frequent experiences of failure gave Abraham Lincoln the resolve to handle the great challenges of his Presidency and the repeated initial failure of the Union forces. He never saw failure as a reason to stop attempting success, and he ultimately changed the course of American history.
Failure is never the end of the road. Failure is how you learn and grow. Whether it's building biceps, achieving financial freedom, becoming the best parent possible, or reaching the Oval Office: you must fail to succeed.
Fail to Succeed - To learn more about this author, visit George Ludwig's Website.
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Vwodek Wojczynski
Business Coach and Consultant Vwodek Wojczynski (pronounced Voy-chin-ski) brings fun, awareness, accountability and fresh perspectives based on his diverse experiences in life and business.
Born in Poland and educated in Greece and Canada, he is trilingual with 8 years experience in business development with clients in Canada, USA, Switzerland and Poland.
His approach is systematic and process-driven. He fuses the know-how of proven business methods with his commitment that entrepreneurs experience satisfaction and joy based on their values, motivations and strengths. He believes that businesses succeed based on their ability to generate value by providing what’s needed and wanted.
Ultimately, he trains executives and true business owners - people who work less, produce more, own businesses that run automatically after a while and make a difference globally.
His current research focus is the development of intelligent business systems and the application of emerging artificial intelligence technologies in business.
He is also an avid traveler, spoken word performer and visual artist. He resides in Toronto, Canada. - Visit Vwodek Wojczynski's Website |
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George Ludwig
(Visit George's Website)
George Ludwig is a recognized authority on
sales strategy and peak performance
psychology. An international speaker,
trainer, and corporate consultant, he
helps clients like Johnson & Johnson,
Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual,
CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales
force effectiveness and performance.
Though it's George's strategies and
processes that help corporations increase
productivity and performance, it's his
tremendous energy and dynamism that spark
the transformation. Again and again,
clients remark on his amazing ability to
unleash human capacity and inspire men and
women to break out of their comfort zones.
The result is a whole new type of
salesperson.
His customized presentations teach
achievers to make stunning advances in
their lives. From helping salespeople
realize cherished dreams to helping
corporations exponentially accelerate
revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves
audiences and individuals empowered,
emboldened, and clamoring for more.
George is the best-selling author of Power
Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the
Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips
to Improve Your Position in Life &
Business.
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