Overcoming Failure!

Aristotle once wrote that we never know a thing until we know it by its causes. Every failure, as well as every success, has its cause. If we understand the cause and reverse it if we can, then we overcome failure and turn it into success. We can learn from our failures and as Pro football coach Don Shula once said, “failure isn’t fatal, and success isn’t final.” What we do after the failure makes the difference.

Self-discipline is often a cause of failure as people can’t manage themselves. Looking to others as role models and following their lead can help us overcome inability to self-discipline. By viewing people who have been successful we find methods to help us move towards success. Our task then becomes to take their ideas and personalize those ideas so they fit our personality and work for us.

A related cause of failure is the issue of time control. Many lack the ability to put business first and reject nonproductive demands on their working time. Setting priorities and staying with them is a must to overcome failure. As a manager once told me “to work when you work and play when you play, but don’t mix the two.” It is important to balance the important areas of our life, so we get our priorities taken care of.

Sometimes we fail because we lack the sense of urgency to complete the task. We put off completion or look for an easier way to finish. Overcoming procrastination frees us both mentally and physically to have availability to get additional tasks completed. Completing tasks also give us a sense of accomplishment that will carry us on to the next challenge.

Lack of faith in oneself is another reason people fail. Most of us can do almost anything we want to do! The problem is deciding what we want and then going after it with all our efforts. Too often we set and dream about an outcome while others are making things happen. Instead of being spectators we need to become participants.

One final comment about overcoming failure. Everyone that has attained great victories has done so after failure, sometimes great failure. As W. Clement Stone once wrote, “Success is achieved by those that try, and keep trying.” Some of the greatest achievements in history were made after failure, often after many attempts. Abe Lincoln and Walt Disney are examples of multiple failures that became monumental successes!

Contact Chuck at: chuck.wright@sckans.edu