Failure is inevitable for those who attempt to do something. Some believe that it makes no sense to create goals or make plans because they are intimidated by the possibility of failure. Others have experienced so many failures that they assume that they will always fail at whatever they try. But properly understood, failure is the path that we travel to success. It is how we respond to failure that determines whether or not we benefit from failure or are destroyed by failure.
I had to overcome the fear of failure just like everyone else who has attempted to do great tasks. One of the most important realizations that I had was that the only way to avoid failure was to do nothing.Then, of course, that would have made me a complete failure since failure is not missing the goal - failure is having no goal at all. Failure is not losing the fight - failure is not having anything for which to fight. Dr. Benjamin Mays, former president of Morehouse College, said that the only thing worse than not reaching our dreams is not having dreams for which we are reaching. So anyone who seeks to avoid failure by doing nothing has already failed!
So how do we make failure work for us? First, we realize that failure simply reminds us that we are normal. Everyone that we know has failed at something. Second, we realize that our failure did not kill us. The fact that we are still alive after we fail means that there is something worse that could have happened to us than failure. And finally, we consider the reasons that we failed and factor them into our strategy during our next attempt.
Don't give up - September is almost here. Keep building your plan and do not let the fear of failure stop you from going forward.
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