"We are all failures – at least, all the best of us." ~ J.M. Barrie
What makes some people fail, while others succeed? How come everything some people touch turns to gold, while others fail time and time again? And what causes them to keep trying and not give up?
Let's look at stepping stones #1 and #2:
#1 – Realize there is one major difference between average people and achieving people.
John Maxwell explains that the difference between average and achieving people is solely in their mindset. He says in his book that the difference between average people and people who are achievers is how they respond to failure. People typically live their lives preparing for success, when they should actually be preparing themselves for failure. They should be learning what they are going to do with it and how they are going to react to it. I love the question Maxwell brings to the conversation: “If the possibility of failure were erased, what would you attempt to achieve?” Pause. Take a moment. What are you thinking?
Whatever obstacles you may be hitting in your personal and professional life don't really matter at all. What does matter is that you can absolutely handle it. And more importantly, how you handle it will be the difference between someone who gives up and someone who presses on (fails forward). It's the difference between quitting and giving up on your goals and dreams, or persevering and moving forward.
“The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake.” ~ Nelson Boswell
#2 – Get a new definition of failure and success.
This chapter starts off with one of my favorite analogies in the entire book. Maxwell talks about a baseball player who steps up to the plate and makes an out – the 5,113th out of his professional career. Earlier in the game, however, the player had reached another major milestone in his career, one that only 21 other people in the history of baseball have ever achieved. He got his 3,000 hit! Wow!
That player, Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres, was one of the best baseball players ever to play, yet he averaged an out (FAILED) two out of every three times at the plate. When you look at it that way, it puts a different twist on the definition of failure.
Maxwell defines what failure is NOT in what he calls his Rules for Being Human:
Rule #1 – You will learn a lesson.
Rule #2 – There are no mistakes – only lessons.
Rule #3 – A lesson is repeated until it is learned.
Rule #4 – If you don't learn the easy lessons, they get harder.
Rule #5 – You'll know you've learned a lesson when your actions change.
Maxwell closes the chapter by stating that what you gain by making mistakes is the benefit of thinking differently. He tells the reader – he gives them permission – to set the standard to make a mistake quota when setting out on your next project, assignment, task, etc. Mistakes are part of the journey, a price you pay along the way to success.
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Continue to follow along for the remaining 13 steps from Failing Forward.
Roslyn Drotar, Implementation Coach, Lawyers With Purpose
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