A friend of mine said to me the other day. “I wish we would make new mistakes...instead of making the same mistakes.” I started to think about what he said and realized the lesson we could all learn from this statement.
Have you ever held back on doing something because you were afraid of failure? Most people have! Lets face it; no one likes to fail. None of us likes to feel like were ineffective, weak or lacking in any way, and that ís exactly how failure makes us feel.
However, you may be surprised to know that failure doesn't exist until YOU say it does. In the dictionary, failure has several definitions:
- Failing to do or perform
- A state of inability to perform a normal function adequately
- Giving way under stress
- A lack of success.
Look carefully at those definitions and you'll probably realize they have one thing in common when it comes to goal achievement: Failure is a PERCEPTION.
Think about this... we were not born with this perception. If we were...all of us would still be crawling because learning to walk means failing before we succeed.
The moment you decide to give up or stop working toward your goals, failure is born.
But what if you never do that? What if you continue working toward your goals, one step at a time for as long as it takes? There ís no failure then, is there?
This insight should be very encouraging if you’ve been working toward goals and not yet seeing positive results. Simply keep going and you cannot fail!
Here are three tips to help you stay strong and focused on your goals:
1) Never give yourself an out.
Most people do this without even realizing it. They are willing to work hard on achieving their goals, until the going gets too rough or their motivation dwindles. Don’t do that! Commit to making your goals happen, no matter what! Never quit, never contemplate admitting failure, and never lose your inner determination.
2) Don’t get hooked on a specific timeframe for completion.
It ís okay to set a general timeline, but be aware that some circumstances will be beyond your control, so you can’t say for sure when your goal will be achieved. If you do that, you are just setting yourself up for failure! Instead, get a general idea of when you would like your goal to be completed, but then take it a day at a time and focus on making progress, not reaching the finish line in as little time as possible.
3) Finally, be sure that you don’t view obstacles and setbacks as failures.
The two are completely different. An obstacle, setback or delay means only one thing: it ís not time for your goal to be completed yet. That ís it! It doesn’t mean you failed; it doesn’t mean you are weak; it does not mean you will never achieve your goals. It simply means you are not done yet. You have got to keep moving forward and find a way around or through the obstacle.
Failing happens when we fall into this trap:
- If you believe you have failed...then you have.
- If you believe you do not have the ability to succeed...then you don’t.
- If you believe you cant handle the pressure of achieving your goals...you cant.
- If you believe you are not successful... you are not.
Failure only exists in your own mind!
“Do and Do Not”...”Can and Cannot” are choices...which one will you choose?
Change Your Mindset and Change Your Results,
Rich
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