Failure Is Nothing Personal
Normally I sleep like a rock. But recently I haven’t been sleeping well. One night, while I was surfing the infomercials to cure my insomnia, I stumbled across a commercial from a drug company about losing weight or smoking cessation (something like that.) It was one of those “make a better you for the new year” products. But the commercial started out like this:
If your efforts haven’t worked so far remember this – it’s not that you’ve failed, it’s just your method has.
Do people really understand this difference? Reminds me of the Thomas Edison quote, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
When something doesn’t go right for you, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure. You have not personally failed. It’s just that the theory, process, hypothesis, or methodology didn’t achieve the desired result. See the difference?
Okay, so now what? Let’s examine another favorite quote from that guy Albert Einstein, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” When something doesn’t work, don’t give up and declare it a failure. Reevaluate your actions and find a different solution. A change in your methodology should achieve a different – hopefully desired – result.
I want to take this convo about failure one step further. In this economy, chances are you’re either someone who is unemployed or you know someone who is. Maybe you’ve been job hunting for quite a while without achieving your desired result – that new great job. You are not a failure. Let me repeat that . . . you’re not a failure. You simply haven’t found the right method to achieve that goal. Don’t be afraid to try something new and different. And keep trying and changing until you find what works.
I’ve written before about failure and how it can cause people to do desperate things when they take it personally. Failure is a strong word and none of us want to be called a failure. Creativity, persistence, and keeping perspective between people and processes are key elements in achieving success.
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