5 Secrets of Turning Failure Into Success
5 Secrets of Turning Failure Into Success
Most people operate with the following mental model:
SUCCESS <== <== YOU ==> ==> FAILURE
They see themselves in the middle, with success on one end and failure on the other. They do everything they can to move toward success and away from failure. But, what if the model were reconfigured?
YOU ==> ==> FAILURE ==> ==> SUCCESS
What if, rather than seeing failure as something to be avoided it became a “stepping-stone” on the path to success? In other words: Success is the destination. Failure is how you get there. To achieve significant success in today’s world, failure is not just a possibility…it is a requirement. We must see success and failure for what they truly are: not opposites, but opposite sides of the same coin.
2) Intentionally increase your failure rate
If it’s true that the more we fail, the more we succeed (and it is), then the immediate goal should be to intentionally increase your failure rate! Yes, this is a counter-intuitive, reverse thinking philosophy… but it works! In this way, we are succeeding even when we fail (as illustrated by this interaction between a student and Zen Master):
Student: Master, if one attempts to fail and succeeds, is he a failure or a success?
Master: Yes! Exactly!
Intentionally increasing failure is the basis for the "Go for No" concept. "Go for No" means the more people that tell you "no" the closer you will get to ultimate success - or in other words, "yes." Most people, if they actually counted the number of times they hear “no” during a typical day or week (which we recommend they do) would be shocked to see how low the number actually is. We recommend that to create a greater “NO-awareness” carrying a small pocket counter or note pad to track their noes.
3) Set “No” goals
Everyone sets success goals; few people set no goal. And that is what we suggest. But how about setting goals for the number of times we fail? For example, rather than a salesperson setting the goal of having 2 prospects say “yes” to them, they set the goal of being turned down (hearing “no”) 10 times. Imagine the first two prospects they called on said, “Yes!” Rather than being done (having hit their “yes” goal) they’d actually be behind because they still have 10 noes to go!
The other exciting aspect of this strategy is how it keeps people “in the game” when they’re “hot!” If all you have is yes goals and you slow down (or quit) when you’re successful, then the hot streak ends. But if you keep going when the yeses of life are falling at your feet, the sky is the limit!
4) Celebrate your failures, not just your successes.
It’s natural to be excited about our successes and to celebrate them, to give ourselves a reward or even throw a party. But, if the key to success is to increase our failures, then it only makes sense to celebrate our set backs as well. Yes, you heard right: if someone turns you down, celebrate it! When’s the last time you rewarded yourself for failing? Probably never! Instead of mentally punishing yourself for not succeeding, what if you bought yourself an ice cream cone and said, “I’m one step closer to success!” Maybe failure would stop having the negative hold it has on your thoughts and emotions.
5) See courage as a “muscle”
If failure is vehicle that that can take you to success, then courage is the fuel! Most people, however, think that courage is something you’ve either got or you don’t; they don’t see it as a skill that can be developed and process to be mastered. But that’s exactly what it is. Courage is a muscle. And, like any muscle, it must be exercised to be developed and strengthened. As the saying goes: Use it, or lose it. It’s no different with courage. You use and develop your “courage muscle” by looking fear in the eye and taking action anyway. Every time you take action, the courage muscle gets stronger; every time you fail to take action, it atrophies a little. And before you know it your courage is gone.
It doesn’t have to be that way. All the courage you could ever want or need to achieve every goal you have is already in you, just waiting for you to say, “Come on. Let’s go for a ride.”
5 Secrets of Turning Failure Into Success - To learn more about this author, visit Richard Fenton's Website.
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1) Change your mental model of “success” and “failure”
Most people operate with the following mental model:
SUCCESS <== <== YOU ==> ==> FAILURE
They see themselves in the middle, with success on one end and failure on the other. They do everything they can to move toward success and away from failure. But, what if the model were reconfigured?
YOU ==> ==> FAILURE ==> ==> SUCCESS
What if, rather than seeing failure as something to be avoided it became a “stepping-stone” on the path to success? In other words: Success is the destination. Failure is how you get there. To achieve significant success in today’s world, failure is not just a possibility…it is a requirement. We must see success and failure for what they truly are: not opposites, but opposite sides of the same coin.
2) Intentionally increase your failure rate
If it’s true that the more we fail, the more we succeed (and it is), then the immediate goal should be to intentionally increase your failure rate! Yes, this is a counter-intuitive, reverse thinking philosophy… but it works! In this way, we are succeeding even when we fail (as illustrated by this interaction between a student and Zen Master):
Student: Master, if one attempts to fail and succeeds, is he a failure or a success?
Master: Yes! Exactly!
Intentionally increasing failure is the basis for the "Go for No" concept. "Go for No" means the more people that tell you "no" the closer you will get to ultimate success - or in other words, "yes." Most people, if they actually counted the number of times they hear “no” during a typical day or week (which we recommend they do) would be shocked to see how low the number actually is. We recommend that to create a greater “NO-awareness” carrying a small pocket counter or note pad to track their noes.
3) Set “No” goals
Everyone sets success goals; few people set no goal. And that is what we suggest. But how about setting goals for the number of times we fail? For example, rather than a salesperson setting the goal of having 2 prospects say “yes” to them, they set the goal of being turned down (hearing “no”) 10 times. Imagine the first two prospects they called on said, “Yes!” Rather than being done (having hit their “yes” goal) they’d actually be behind because they still have 10 noes to go!
The other exciting aspect of this strategy is how it keeps people “in the game” when they’re “hot!” If all you have is yes goals and you slow down (or quit) when you’re successful, then the hot streak ends. But if you keep going when the yeses of life are falling at your feet, the sky is the limit!
4) Celebrate your failures, not just your successes.
It’s natural to be excited about our successes and to celebrate them, to give ourselves a reward or even throw a party. But, if the key to success is to increase our failures, then it only makes sense to celebrate our set backs as well. Yes, you heard right: if someone turns you down, celebrate it! When’s the last time you rewarded yourself for failing? Probably never! Instead of mentally punishing yourself for not succeeding, what if you bought yourself an ice cream cone and said, “I’m one step closer to success!” Maybe failure would stop having the negative hold it has on your thoughts and emotions.
5) See courage as a “muscle”
If failure is vehicle that that can take you to success, then courage is the fuel! Most people, however, think that courage is something you’ve either got or you don’t; they don’t see it as a skill that can be developed and process to be mastered. But that’s exactly what it is. Courage is a muscle. And, like any muscle, it must be exercised to be developed and strengthened. As the saying goes: Use it, or lose it. It’s no different with courage. You use and develop your “courage muscle” by looking fear in the eye and taking action anyway. Every time you take action, the courage muscle gets stronger; every time you fail to take action, it atrophies a little. And before you know it your courage is gone.
It doesn’t have to be that way. All the courage you could ever want or need to achieve every goal you have is already in you, just waiting for you to say, “Come on. Let’s go for a ride.”
5 Secrets of Turning Failure Into Success - To learn more about this author, visit Richard Fenton's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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