Failing Your Way to Success

The Hall of Fame Basketball Player Michael Jordan once said “I’ve failed over and over and over again, and that is why I succeed.”

Clearly, M.J. has had a remarkable career both on and off of the court. And like so many famous people that are perceived as super-stars… the rest of humanity has only seen their favorite celebrity’s “highlight” reel of accomplishments. We the endearing fans never really get to see behind the scenes at the struggles and failures that the Celebes have endured time and again just like you… before they hit the Big-Time!

The vast majority of people from all walks of life simply don’t handle disappointment or defeat very well. They say to themselves and worst of all to others… “That sure didn’t work out well… clearly I wasn’t cut out to do this.” Or perhaps… “I should have known better, nothing ever works out right for me.”

How many times have you said something like this out of frustration over your failure or disappointment? Everyone has and you are no exception. What’s more… I would wager the proverbial dollar for a donut that you really didn’t mean the things that you said. Deep down inside of yourself, you didn’t believe it either.

The difference between you and highly successful people like M.J. is that they didn’t bail on themselves or put themselves down. Instead they dug in harder, kept right on believing in their goals, dreams and abilities and never ever allowed themselves to give up. Not even for a minute.

When it comes to failing your way to success… carefully consider the following true story:

In the year 1831 a young man failed in a business venture. The following year in 1832 he ran for public office and met with resounding defeat for a legislative seat. Again, in 1833 this same man attempted to launch another business enterprise which also failed. In 1834 he made another attempt at running for public office and was elected to his state legislature.

However, in 1838 he was defeated for speaker. Once again in 1840 he was defeated for elector. And then in 1844 he lost a race for a Congressional seat. At long last in 1846, this man was elected to a seat in Congress, only to eventually lose it two years later in 1848.

Seven years later in 1855 he again ran for the Senate and was once more defeated. The very next year in 1856 he ran for Vice President but again did not win. Once more in 1858, he ran again for the Senate and was defeated. Then in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected as the President of The United States.

President Lincoln’s road to success was a rocky one to say the least. His journey to his goal of the presidency is a testament to the grit of determination, patience, perseverance and persistence. While Abraham Lincoln’s life began in a rustic log cabin, he overcame his humble beginnings and a multitude of failures in both business and politics. Abe Lincoln didn’t have a lick of quit in him and by not ever giving up, his tenacity eventually paid off. In the process, Honest Abe left behind a legacy of lessons for all to learn from.

Failure is the seed from which real learning sprouts. Just ask Thomas Edison who remained undeterred although he had already found over two thousand ways not to make a light bulb. The simple fact of the matter is that every one of your failures and disappointments is chock full of valuable lessons that will help you to excel and succeed on a brighter future day.

The road of life of the rich and famous is mired in difficulty, challenges and adversity. And it is this same road that you must traverse in search of your success. So what ever lies around the next bend in the road ahead… Be certain of this one thing, that you will never ever take failure lying down.

While they may be from different eras, Honest Abe and M.J. are undeniable proof that failure is never final!

Copyright © 2012 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

Your 7 Best Time Strategies

Time is fleeting and life passes by oh so quickly. Every moment of your time is truly precious and should be used wisely.

In a few weeks you will receive the gift of an extra 24 hours to do with what ever you please. What are your plans for your Leap Year gift? How will you spend them? Or, will you choose to invest them?

Your journey through life… is also a remarkable journey through time! Time is in a sense a portal, because you literally pass through it. Time is also a dimension, because time changes everything, including you. Time like money, is also a commodity, for it is the most valuable thing that you will ever possess. And no amount of money can ever add a single day, hour or minute to your life.

February 29th should serve to remind you of your responsibility to both value and respect your gift of time throughout every moment of your every day – for once the grains of sand have slipped through the hour glass, you can never get them back. Time is an integral part of your daily environment, because it is with you wherever you go. And as I’m certain that you would agree, taking care of our environment is an appropriate thing that we all should do. When to comes to your own personal environment, time is the one thing that is so utterly precious… Yet, you can neither conserve it or nor recycle it. It has a zero shelf life.

Every one of your hours and every one of your minutes has an absolute value that must be used “now”. Time is the ultimate use it or loose it commodity. Your ability to strategize and prioritize your time is your prerequisite key to improving your personal productivity. Given the volatile global economic environment, following are my Top 7 Time Strategy tips to assist you with your continuing need to do more… with less:

» Allocate Time Properly. Planning your time is critical to your productivity. Decide today how you are going to allocate your time tomorrow. Not only will you sleep better tonight – you’ll perform better tomorrow.

» Focus On Revenue Generation. On average, business people only devote about 20% of their time to those activities which actually generate income. Look for ways to delegate, outsource or eliminate non-revenue generating tasks. Then start focusing on turning your time into cash.

» Identify Time-Wasters. You waste time every day… stop it! Review the past several days while they are still fresh in your mind and then identify your Top 5 Time-Wasters. Be clear about “what” or “who” is wasting your valuable time. Now take the corrective actions to reclaim both your time and the money that this waste has been costing you.

» Prioritize Tasks. While you need to prioritize your daily work load based on importance, you also need to prioritize your tasks based upon their time requirements. Group tasks together as blocks of time, i.e. you have a staff meeting in an hour, but you don’t really have a sizeable task that will take up a full hour. Group a 30 minute task, a 20 minute task and 10 minute task together. You won’t leave something unfinished and you won’t have to review or refocus your attention back to that task after the meeting – Instead you will be able to start fresh on a new project.

» Think Prime-Time. Everyone has certain times of the day when they function best and feel the most productive. Learn to identify the time frames that constitute this “Prime-Time” for you. Then block out as much of this time frame as possible for your most important projects and tasks – then arrange for you to not be disturbed during this period of time. Start maxing-out your personal productivity.

» Stop Procrastinating. There will always be those tasks which are your least favorite things to do. Yet, in the end they still have to get done. Quit avoiding the inevitable… get them out of the way so that you can move on to more enjoyable work and creative opportunities. Not only will you be more productive, you’ll feel a whole lot better in the process.

» Put A Value On Time. If you really want to stop wasting time… Get crystal clear about what your time is really “worth”. While you know may readily know what you typically earn per week and consequently per hour – this is the wrong measuring tool. You are stuck in a loop that thinks in terms of “earnings” and not relative value. If you view how you make money in the context of revenue generation (listed above) which accounts for roughly 20% of your time – this means that when you are actually selling your product or service and generating revenue that your time is actually “worth” 500% more than it is the entire remainder of your day from an hourly perspective. When you know what your time is really “worth” you will quickly change what you are doing.

Ben Franklin is often quoted for saying that “Time is money.” When appropriately viewed through the prism of reality, it is my opinion that “Time yields productivity… and productivity in return yields money.”

By utilizing sound time strategies you can master the art of turning your time into “cash”!

Copyright © 2012 Developing Forward Thomas H. Swank, CBC All Rights Reserved.