Failure
I could literally talk all day about failure. I've failed quite a bit in my career. But I've also become really really skilled a failing. Failure is one of the most important things you can do in life. It's how we learn. It sucks to fail. But If you can learn to turn failure into a strength you will kick some serious ass.
Over the years I've failed a lot. I've been demoralized by failure too. I've been held back by dwelling on my failures. I've feared trying something again at the risk of failing. But over time I've learned to harness it into one of my greatest strengths. I learned one key thing that made me an excellent failure: If you never stop trying you can never truly fail. If you truly have the desire to achieve something and never stop trying you aren't going to fail. Statistically, you have a really good chance at succeeding at some point if you just don't stop trying. Here is how I see my mindset for failing:
- Fail fast - Don't waste time dwelling on your failure. Move forward and don't slow down.
- Fail often - Do not be afraid to experiment. You aren't perfect so it's going to happen anyway. Just try things and see what works.
- You have to have drive - If you don't have drive then none of this works. That is the key ingredient. Without the drive to move forward, a failure will just be a failure.
The one thing all successful entrepreneurs have in common is grit. Most successful entrepreneurs look like overnight successes to everyone. But maybe 0.0001% are that lucky. I would bet that any successful entrepreneur could talk to you all day about their failures. They are successful because they just kept failing forward.