Turning temporary defeat into success

Prosperity. Success. Happiness. Inner peace. Philanthropy. Wealth. What do all of these terms have in common? Besides there universal appeal to the majority of us, the other characteristic they have in common is that they are all born from what most people would call failure.

I am convinced that we have become a culture that is so engrained with a fear of failure that the dreams and visions of an entire generation are supressed.
In our quest for the prosperous life that impacts us the most is our lack of understanding of what failure truly is. Here are 3 points to ponder today that if you will internalize, will set you on course to realizing your dreams.

1. Temporary defeat is NOT failure. Contrary to popular belief, failure is NOT permanent. Instead what most of us would consider to be failure is in reality temporary defeat. Failure is not permanent until we decide it so. Many of you have read the blog post where I describe the harsh reality of walking away from a previous business where our partners began operating in unethical ways. We walked away from 8 years of hard work and a 7 figure annual income because we would not compromise our integrity. Alot of onlookers described this business as a failure, but I know differently. You see, after 6 months of reflection and study, my team embarked on a new venture a little over 30 days ago, and it has been the greatest business experience thus far of my career. So much so, that I'm now asking myself the question, "why didn't I do this 2-3 years ago?" I can tell you why. Fear of failure, defeat. What do you know in your heart today that you need to move on from-a job, a relationship, a habit-thats you've been afraid to take action upon? Many times this opens up the opportunity for a new level of satisfaction and happiness. Remember, we have to clean out the garage BEFORE we can put the new car in!

2. Living in a constant fear of failure manifests the fear itself. This is the craziest part of all! Most of you have seen The Secret movie. The law of attraction ladies and gentleman is REAL. That which we fear most we actually attract into our life by our daily habits and actions. I have a friend who is a businessman. He is constantly worried about spending to much money and working to hard in his business. Because of this, he constantly operates right above the mediocre line. He never achieves what he is capable of. People who are much less knowledgeable make much more money than he does. It is really sad to see, because this has been the case his entire life. Remember the words of Henry Van Dyke, "courage is the standing army of the soul which keeps it from conquest, pillage and slavery." Nothing worthwhile will ever be accomplished without RISK of temporary defeat.

2. Temporary defeat is your ally. Everyone of us have experienced the sting of defeat. Beginning at an early age, we learn how it feels to be not be selected for the team, to be turned down by the girl or boy that is the object of our affection, or finding a school subject particuarly hard. I am convinced that our educational system has created a nation that believes that defeat, or failure, is bad. When in reality it is how we learn. Almost everyday, as my 4 year old makes mistakes, has accidents, etc as any 4 year old does, I am quick to explain to her that mistakes, indeed, ARE HOW WE LEARN. I remind her of this time and again, because as a human being, she will be making mistakes and experiencing defeat for the rest of her life. For many of us, we were raised the opposite. To suffer defeat, make a mistake, whatever-we were influenced to believe that it was bad, that perhaps there was something wrong with us. Absolute HOGWASH!!! Parents you have the opportunity to reprogram your children. Remind them today that as they fail, they are learning so they can become stronger the next time. Remember the timeless words of Napoleon Hill, "every failure will teach you a lesson that you need to learn if you will keep your eyes and ears open and be willing to be taught. Every adversity is usually a blessing in disguise. Without reverses and temporary defeat, you would never know the sort of metal of which you are made."

One more comment to those who are parents. The greatest parenting principle is the law of modeling. Our kids do what we do, not what we say. How can we encourage our kids to not allow the fear of failure to run their lives when we allow it to run ours?

To quote Hill again, "a person is half whipped the minute he/she begins to feel sorry themself, or to spin an alibi which which they would explain away their defects." You are created for greatness. You are a PERFECT TEN. Be willing to go for the dream within your heart today, whatever that may be and remember the infamous words of Disraeli who said, "to believe in the heroic makes heroes".

Have an AWESOME day!!!
Steven

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