Beyond Fear: Give Yourself the Power to Thrive After Failure

Beyond Fear Give yourself the power to thrive after failure.


"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."
--Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian writer

It is the fear of failing to achieve our dreams which convinces us to play safe. We are not so afraid of falling short as we are the perceived humiliation of failing to succeed. Our brains sometimes seize at the imagined pain of failing, of missing the brass ring, and admitting to our friends, families, and colleagues that, for whatever reason, we were unable to "make it happen."

To conquer this paralyzing fear, it seems to me that we must continue to visualize our lives beyond the moment of failure. We must entertain the idea, vividly, that what we most want will not happen on our first try, and then carry our visualization past failure.

I firmly believe that imagining a return to the ring after a crushing defeat gives us an inner strength to pursue our ambitions. Don't block the idea of failure. Don't say "failure is not an option." Take the sting out of failure by imagining how you will stand up again should you "fail" along the way.

Respect the lessons contained within failure... most notably the character it takes to try again.

Perpetual Change: Welcoming Change Means Welcoming Life

Over the years, Mark and I have heard from people who just hate change, they can't cope with change, and if there is just too much change they can't even begin, much less move forward or even finish. Truthfully, how we feel about change has little to do with the fact that change is inevitable and cannot be ignored. One's feeling toward change one way or the other has little to do with the plan and chosen attitude that must be put into place to adapt and then adapt again, and then adapt one more time. Consider the following:


"When you are through changing, you are through."
--Bruce F. Barton (1886 - 1967), author & Congressman

There are those in business who lament change--shifts in how we communicate, the speed of technology, the feeling that what we learned a few years ago is obsolete. But adapting to change is what keeps our minds sharp. Change brings new ideas, new perspectives on old ideas, and plenty of opportunities to see the world as a new
place.

I am not among those who see all change as a symptom of "the end of the good old days." I see change as a sign of perpetual reinvestment in the world, a sign that people are hungry for new experiences, and willing to embrace what change brings. While some of what is good may get lost, progress is almost always worth the cost.

I hope to be so lucky to be an old person who is still interested in newtechnology, trends, and shifts in thinking. It seems to me that the happiest among us maintain a natural curiosity. Those that lose it seem to age before their time. What Bruce Barton says is true: When you are through changing, you're through.