How to be Successful - Failure Vs Success

Ok this one is supposed to be simple. Everyone wants success to some degree. Now success isn't the same for everybody; for some it's money, for others it's attaining an attractive spouse, and for some it's just plain happiness in one form or the other (sorry if I left your category out). In any case, it's tried and true that some people just seem to have their chips in all the right baskets and know all the right people while some people just plain don't.

I want to do a simple comparison between a successful thinker and a failure-type thinker. Both deal with the same obstacles and both, believe it or not, go through the same internal struggles on a daily basis. The successful thinker has the same insecurities as the failure, but it's in the way he processes those thoughts and portrays them in his daily interactions that sets him apart.

Let's face it: everyone FAILS. Everybody fails period. I fail, you fail, your rich uncle failed, and Thomas Edison failed (thousands of times). Take a look at how your failures have affected you. I can look back at some disappointments in my life and pinpoint the ones I was hurt by and pinpoint the ones that grew me into the happy and goal-oriented person that I am today. Enough about me, here's the comparison:

The failure fails; he lets the failure control his action and mindset and lets that failure destroy him. He will never attempt that same feat again; ever in his life.

The successful guy fails; many more times than the failure. He gets up; he fails again. He tries again, modifies his process, sees the project through from start to finish, and fails AGAIN. He starts over, learns some new tricks, surveys his customers, finds out their wants and likes, finds out their needs and dislikes, puts it all together and...FAILS AGAIN. He gets up. He tries and tries and tries. Finally, after all of those unsuccessful and disappointing attempts, he makes a dollar. He makes someone smile. His product works. He tweaks and tweaks and tweaks until he GETS IT. Happy ending? Maybe. But he has SUCCEEDED. He is now driven to do more and affect more people and continues until he is a household name.

Are you starting to see the difference? Everybody fails; the successful people usually fail the most. But they turn those failures into learning experiences and use them to put it into overdrive and head towards success.

Think of this analogy (I did NOT come up with this one): the best baseball players hit .400 or .300 AT BEST. That's only 3 hits out of 10! 30%! That means they FAILED 7 times! Yet, they are the best because they have succeeded at a higher rate than the unsuccessful hitters. Crazy, huh? It is easy to let failures get you down, but the difference between successful and unsuccessful people is how they use the outcome of the failure to drive the next step of their life. Simple? Yes. Easy? No. Do your best to let your failures drive you one step closer to your success! Cheers!