The sweetest victory is the one that’s most difficult. At least once in your life, you are going to fail at something. Failure is inevitable. Your actions afterward depend on your future success. You can choose to regard failure as a negative experience or as a positive experience. In the words of former president Robert F. Kennedy, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
Consequences of Negative Thinking
Recognizing failure as a negative will just spiral to more letdowns. There may be a limited number of ways in which to succeed, but there are many ways to fail: Having a bad idea, not having the courage to adapt, or making bad decisions. Many people become afraid to accept failure since we have a desire to feel good. People become less confident to take risks and put themselves out there from fear of the unknown. Failure can build up if you allow yourself to be in a negative mindset. However, if you learn to use it to your advantage, then you are on the right path to success.
Failure is Life’s Greatest Teacher
You must admit to failure. It can be difficult since failure makes you feel vulnerable, but once that happens it can be a liberating experience. Recognizing failure as a positive experience can open new doors of freedom to try new things and to reach outside your comfort zone. When you fail to accomplish something, YOU are not a failure. The only thing that failed was the attempt, strategy, or technique. You may not be particularly skilled at what you were trying to succeed in, yet you now know that requires more room for improvement. Self-worth does not devalue which many people seem to believe.
Don’t Take It Personally
One of the hardest steps is to not take failure personally. Failure is not a reflection on the real you or your personal worth. It can open your eyes to see other steps toward reaching your goal and support a winning mentality. A perfect example would be from Thomas Edison when he was creating the prototype for the light bulb. He has one of the most well-known quotes about failure/success which states, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Each time he failed he did not depreciate his value of being an engineer. He used each mistake as a stepping stone towards success. In the end, he became one of the most famous and well-known engineers to live. Because of his mentality he was eventually able to reach his goal.
To finally succeed after repeated failure, can be one of the best experiences. When you begin to look forward to the lessons of failure, that will lead to lessons of “wins.” You will be on the right track. If you would like to learn more about selling, prospecting, or sales best practices, check out our excellent book, The Sandler Rules. Learn more about how to apply these principles from Sandler Training Solutions by contacting Sandler Salefish today. We’d love to answer any questions you have.
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