Focus on Desired Results

An excellent illustration of this is a true story concerning one of the most exciting World Series baseball games of the 1950s between the New York Yankees and the Milwaukee Braves. Warren Spahn, the great Milwaukee Hall-of-Famer, was on the mound for the Braves. Elston Howard, the power-hitting catcher for the Yankees, was batting at the plate. It was the classic confrontation: late innings, pitchers’ duel, man on base, the deciding game of the series. The tension was paramount. The Milwaukee manager trotted out to the mound for a quick motivation conference with Warren Spahn. “Don’t give Howard a high, outside pitch; he’ll knock it out of the park!” were the final words as the manager finished the powwow. Warren Spahn tried not to throw the ball high and outside. He tried to relax and aim low at the inside corner. Too late! Like a neon light, the motivating image “high outside” was the dominant signal. It was a home-run pitch. Because of that one dominant thought, Milwaukee almost lost the World Series. Eddie Matthews came in with a home run to save the game for the Braves. But Warren Spahn, throughout the rest of his life, said, “Why would anyone ever try to motivate anyone by the reverse of what they want.”

You are always motivated in the direction of your current, dominant thoughts. You can’t concentrate on the reverse of an idea. That’s why winners dwell on the desired result and the rewards of success.

Once the brain has locked on to an idea, escaping it is almost impossible. I once played in a foursome with Lee Trevino in a celebrity pro-am golf tournament. Just before our group teed off, Lee did a little psych job on us. “Do you fellows breathe in or out during your backswing?” he inquired with seeming innocence. Preparing to tee off, I tried to put the devilishly disruptive question out of my mind—but ended up thinking about it, or trying not to think about it, so insistently that I sliced my ball into the gallery of three thousand Lee Trevino groupies. Only his money golfer’s wink betrayed his ploy. We never found my ball. Although contingency planning is vital and safety measures must always be in place, the lesson is not to focus on possible setbacks—not to dwell on them—even as you acknowledge the possibility that some are inevitable. If you do think too much about them, they’ll overwhelm you. Keep your eyes on the ball and your mind on the goal of where you want it to land.

The FBI trains its agents to spot counterfeit bills by using real ones. The agents study, study, study—but only genuine money. They steep themselves in the characteristics of authentic one, five, ten, twenty, fifty, and hundred-dollar bills until their appraisal of them becomes virtually instinctive—at which point they also instantly recognize counterfeit bills when they encounter them. With minds uncluttered with counterfeiters’ common mistakes—what might be wrong, what’s usually omitted—they know what they’re looking for. To specialists in the real thing, imitations seem glaringly obvious. And if you allow yourself to think about all that could go wrong or the penalties of failure, you’re far more likely to hobble your performance with those penalties. Constantly tell yourself what to do instead of what not to do.

To keep people feeling like winners in today’s turbulent environment is a significant leadership challenge. Hectic schedules, changing goals, and constantly shifting priorities oftentimes make it hard for people to see the significance of their work. An essential leadership skill is always keeping the big picture, the ultimate goal, in front of the people you’re working with. People also need to be reminded of the benefits that come from their work. During World War II, parachutes were being constructed by the thousands. From the workers’ point of view, the job was tedious and repetitive. It involved crouching over a sewing machine eight to ten hours a day, stitching endless lengths of colorless fabric. The result was a seamless heap of cloth. But every morning, the workers were reminded that each stitch was part of a life-saving operation. As they sewed, they were asked to think that this might be the parachute worn by their husband, brother, or son. Although the work was hard and the hours long, the women and men on the assembly line understood their contribution to the larger picture. The same should be true for any work. As a leader, make sure people know how what they do benefits the health and well-being of others—not just generally, but specifically. These are the visions that drive us through tedious details to the top.

Read and listen to the news and reports of professional growth, but resist the temptation to pollute your mind with the sordid details of others’ tragedies. Getting hooked on tabloid exposés will make you jaded and cynical. Select more friends and associates who are optimists and highly motivated leaders. Mutual attraction should be less in the sharing of problems than in sharing solutions and goals. Learn to stay relaxed and friendly no matter how much pressure you’re under. Be constructively helpful instead of unhelpfully critical. When dealing with your associates and subordinates, don’t criticize failures in front of others. Correct mistakes only in private and allow more latitude by looking at them, whenever possible, as conceivable innovations. Open criticism of others’ mistakes will make them failure-avoiders who will stop innovating and experimenting. Above all, put your desires and goals in positive terms. Live to greet success, not to avoid failure.

Here are a few action reminders to develop this winning action quality of reward motivation to keep the inner fires of desire burning intensely.

1. Remember: “We become what we think about.” Focus all your attention and energy on the achievement of the objectives you are involved in right now.

2. Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change of direction to set you straight for your next success. The person interested in success has to learn to view failure as a healthy, inevitable part of the process of getting to the top. So make a pact with yourself. We suggest you write an agreement with yourself. Promise that you won’t allow a failure to be more than a learning experience that allows you to move more quickly to the place you want to be.

3. Forget perfection. Only the saints are perfect—and “Sainthood is acceptable only in saints.” Accept the flaws and the failures in yourself and consider them challenges and learning experiences. They are seeds of growth.

Whatever you do, never allow your goals and their benefits to you to get lost in the back of your subconscious. Bring them out in the sunlight and shine them every day—and there’s no way you can fail. A fear is a goal in reverse. Dwell on the problem, and it grows. Dwell on finding a solution, and the mind moves toward that dominant thought. Losers dwell on the penalties of failure. Winners dwell on the rewards of success. Your expectation is what drives your motivation.

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out to another is to risk involvement. To expose your feelings is to risk revealing your true self. To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk rejection. To love is to risk not being loved in return. To live is to risk dying. To hope is to risk despair. To try is to risk failure. But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing at all. People who will risk nothing—do nothing, have nothing, and become nothing. They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, or live. Chained by their certitudes, they are slaves. They have forfeited their freedom. Only a person who risks is truly free. And one last idea you can live and believe is the more that you give, the more you’ll receive.

Question: Are you a failure-avoider? In other words, is the penalty of failure preventing you from taking risks that can result in creativity, innovation, and more success?

Action: Today view failure as fertilizer, a temporary inconvenience, a learning experience, and a necessary target correction. Those who risk nothing avoid failure and any opportunity for success. Dare to take a risk today.

Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end.