One major ingredient for success

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." ~ Colin Powell

That's it - study, do, fail, learn, do some more - that's the simple cycle for success. And it includes that one major item we all hate - failure; but failure is the most essential part of the process. We can prepare and work hard but if we aren't failing that means we aren't really doing anything; we aren't putting our knowledge to good use and when we are working hard we're really just keeping ourselves busy.

Failure is huge and it's scary. I don't know exactly why or exactly when it happens. We didn't start out that way. If we did start out that way none of us would be walking or talking because the amount of failure we experienced in learning to do those 2 things is monumental!

Think about it. When you watch a child attempt to stand and they fall down, what do they do? What do you encourage them to do? And when they take a few tottering steps and fall down, what do they do? What do you do? We smile and praise them and applaud! We encourage them to keep going and try again - and soon they are walking (actually running) around the house.

But when we attempt something and fail we berate ourselves. We spend all our time and energy telling ourselves how we should have done it right the first time. Well, what if we cut ourselves the same slack that we give those toddlers? What if we applaud every effort then stand up and try again?

It's that tenacity and that model which will get us across the finish line.

Action: Do something! Whatever your dream, whatever your goal, take some action today. Don't worry about failing, just take the lessons from the failure and try again.

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The Success Principles(TM): How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be