Tag Archive for failure

Are You Failing Forward?

May 22, 2012 Eric Deschamps One comment


Have you ever made serious mistakes in your life and business that cost you dearly? Have those mistakes ever left you feeling defeated and discouraged? Consider the following insurance claim filed by an injured bricklayer.

“Dear Sir,

I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In block number three of the accident reporting form, I put “poor planning” as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully, and I trust that the following details will be sufficient.

I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a six-story building. When I completed my work, I discovered that I had about 500 pounds of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them down in a barrel by using a pulley, which, fortunately, was attached to the side of the building at the sixth floor. Securing the rope at ground level, I went up the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of brick.

You will note in block number eleven of the accident reporting form that I weigh 175 pounds. Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded upward at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull and broken collarbone.

Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time I regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain.

At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Without the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed approximately 50 pounds. I refer you again to my weight of 175 pounds in block number eleven. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles and the lacerations on my legs and lower body. The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the piles of brick, and fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked.

I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the pile of bricks, in pain, unable to stand, and watching the barrel six stories above me, I again lost the presence of mind AND I LET GO OF THE ROPE!”

The only true failure is the failure to learn from your mistakes! Like the bricklayer in our story, many people keep making mistakes over and over again because they fail to learn from their errors and adapt accordingly. This holds them back from reaching their full potential.

Successful people know that the pathway to success is often littered with failures and setbacks. But unlike the average person who gives up prematurely, successful people know how to turn adversities into advantages, problems into potential, and failures into feedback. This is called failing forward.

Too many people allow failure to DEFINE them rather than REFINE them. Failure is a moment in time, not a state of being. It is an opportunity to learn and grow and try again. It is a teacher and mentor, if we accept its help. It’s one thing to say, “I failed” and another thing altogether to say, “I am a failure.”

Many people have tried and failed. The only difference between losers and winners is that losers stop trying. They give in to defeat, and accept a passing setback to define them as a person. Successful people don’t allow their HISTORY to keep them from fulfilling their DESTINY.

The lessons that you learn from failure must not be forgotten or dismissed. The experience you gain will be invaluable to you in the future. That’s why failure should not be feared. It can play a crucial role in your success story, if embraced in the right spirit.

Remember, the worst failure is failure to try. Don’t let yesterday’s FAILURE bankrupt tomorrow’s EFFORTS. Theodore Roosevelt praised the man who…

“…if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly!”

Consider your latest setback. What important lessons can you draw from it that can help you do better next time? You won’t get it right every time, but “failing forward” can help you get maximum traction out of every failure in your personal and professional life.

 

Eric Deschamps, Business Coach – Ottawa

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The Success is in the DOING!

October 31, 2011 Eric Deschamps No comments

 

“Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.” ~ Charles F. Kettering

In last week’s blog post, I wrote about “The Power of Perseverance.” Let me probe a little further today…

Allow me to state the obvious. Success is only achieved if you possess the courage – the intestinal fortitude – to stick it out long enough to see your dreams become a reality. Dreaming about the future is one thing, but the secret to success is in the doing!

Your business started with an idea! You gathered all the needed information and created a your business plan. You committed to all kinds of fancy goals and strategies. But then came decision time. Would you go ahead and jump in with both feet or would you bail out because the venture appeared too difficult and too risky?

It is often at this stage that the greatest challenges emerge. In an age of “instant solutions” and “quick fixes”, many people expect results even before they start doing anything. They take a few steps and quit prematurely because they don’t experience phenomenal success immediately. They throw in the towel, wondering why their plan didn’t work. The real question is did they work the plan? Did they follow through? Did they persevere?

The secret to success is in the DOING and in the “KEEP DOING.” For how long? As long as it takes! What do you have to do to succeed? Whatever it takes!

Only you can decide how much time and energy you will invest to ensure that your goals are achieved. But once you have decided, make sure you FOLLOW THROUGH! Be true to yourself. Honour your word. Take action, and persevere. As in the story in last week’s blog post, don’t stop three feet short of the gold!

You may choose to follow someone else’s plan because they achieved success in an arena similar to yours. But remember: your outcome may look very different from theirs. You are unique. Only you can write your own story and create your own outcome. Whatever the outcome is, it’s an experience that was worth having. You either learned HOW TO DO something or HOW NOT TO DO something.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t need help from others. Actually, your learning and progress can often be greatly accelerated by the people you surround yourself with. However, don’t ever forget that the final buck stops with you.

Here is the simple truth, the SINGLE SOLITARY REASON why so few people ever achieve their dreams: they are simply UNWILLING to do whatever it takes, for however long it takes! Few people fail, many people quit, most people don’t even try! The secret to success is in the DOING! In the words of NIKE, JUST DO IT!

Here’s something to consider…

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” ~ Teddy Roosevelt

Get in the arena. Stay in the fight. Embrace the prize. Savour the victory.

Here’s to your success!

 

Eric Deschamps, Business Coach/Advisor – Ottawa, Canada

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The Power of Perseverance!

October 24, 2011 Eric Deschamps No comments


“You’ve got to say, ”I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it.” It’s called perseverance.” Lee Iacocca

“Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.” Samuel Johnson

Successful people never give up. They have a “don’t quit” attitude that sustains them when they encounter inevitable roadblocks and setbacks. They keep trying, working, and persisting long after the average person has thrown in the towel. They persevere to the end.

One of the most common causes of failure is quitting too soon. Most of us have made this mistake at one time or another, and maybe even on several occasions. To achieve your dreams and goals, you must learn to persevere through hardships and setbacks. Every great achievement in history was often preceded by great opposition. And some of the greatest failures can be traced to giving up prematurely.

In his book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill there is a story that illustrates this principle quite powerfully. Hill tells the story of R.U. Darby’s uncle who was caught by “gold fever” in the gold-rush days, and went west to find his fortune. He staked his claim and went to work feverishly to make his fortune. The work was hard and the progress slow, but his lust for gold fuelled his efforts.

After weeks of strenuous labour, Darby’s uncle struck gold! But he needed machinery to bring the shiny ore to the surface. Quietly, he covered up the mine, returned to his home in Williamsburg, Maryland and told his relatives and a few friends of the “strike.” They pooled their money together for the needed equipment, and had it shipped to the secret location. The uncle and Darby went back to work the mine.

The first train car of ore was mined, and shipped to a smelter. Their returns proved they had one of the most lucrative mines in the state of Colorado! Only a few more cars of that gold would clear their outstanding debts and place them within reach of huge profits. Their dreams of unimaginable wealth drove them forward and onward!

Then something terrible happened. The vein of gold ore disappeared! They had come to the end of the rainbow, and their pot of gold had apparently vanished. They kept drilling, desperately hoping to find the vein again. All their efforts were met with failure. The vein couldn’t be found. Finally, after significant effort and cost, the decision was made to throw in the towel.

Discouraged and defeated, they sold their machinery to a local junk man for a few hundred dollars, and took the train back home. The junk man was aware that the Darby’s had been mining gold ore. He called in a mining engineer to inspect the mine and make recommendations. The engineer advised him that the project had failed, because the original owners were not familiar with “fault lines.”

His calculations showed that the lost vein would be found just three feet from where the Darby’s had stopped drilling! And that is exactly where the junk man found it! He extracted millions of dollars in gold ore from the mine, because he knew enough to seek expert counsel before giving up.

Have you ever stopped drilling just three feet short of the gold? Have you ever thrown in the towel, only to discover that victory was just around the corner? On your success journey, you are sure to encounter failure and defeat along the way. When obstacles overtake you, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is exactly what most people do.

The junk man understood the value of calling in an expert to help him turn the “impossible” situation around. Who do you turn to (in your life and business) for that expert opinion that provides the winning edge?

Successful people persevere to the end. In his book, Hill noted that more than five hundred of the most successful men in America at this time reported that their greatest success came just one step beyond the point at which defeat had overtaken them. Don’t stop digging three feet short of the gold. Endure to the end, and reap the benefits.

 

Eric Deschamps, Business Coach/Advisor – Ottawa

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