By Dr. John C. Maxwell
Vincent Van Gogh failed as an art dealer, flunked his entrance exam to theology school, and was fired by the church after an ill-fated attempt at missionary work. In fact, during his life, he seldom experienced anything other than failure as an artist. Although a single painting by Van Gogh would fetch in excess of $100 million today, in his lifetime Van Gogh sold only one painting, four months prior to his death.
Before developing his theory of relativity, Albert Einstein encountered academic failure. One headmaster expelled Einstein from school and another teacher predicted that he would never amount to anything. Einstein even failed his entrance exam into college.
Prior to dazzling the world with his athletic skill, Michael Jordan was cut from his sophomore basketball team. Even though he captured six championships, during his professional career, Jordan missed over 12,000 shots, lost nearly 400 games, and failed to make more than 25 would-be game-winning baskets.
Failure didn't stop Vincent Van Gogh from painting, Albert Einstein from theorizing, or Michael Jordan from playing basketball, but it has paralyzed countless leaders and prevented them from reaching their potential.
At some point, all great achievers are tempted to believe they are failures. But in spite of that, they persevere. In the face of adversity, shortcomings, and rejection, they hold onto self-believe and refuse to see themselves as failures. Here are seven abilities of achievers that enable them to rebound from failure and keep moving forward.
Seven Principles for Failing Forward
Reject Rejection
Achievers who persevere do not base their self-worth on their performance. On the contrary, they have a healthy self-image that's not dictated by external events. When they fall short, rather than labeling themselves a failure, they learn from mistakes in their judgment or behavior.
Don't Point Fingers
When people fail, they're often tempted to blame others for their lack of success. By pointing fingers, they sink into a victim mentality and cede their fate to outsiders. When playing the blame game, people rob themselves of learning from their failures and alienate others by refusing to take responsibility for mistakes.
See Failure as Temporary
People who personalize failure see a problem as a hole they're permanently stuck in, whereas achievers see any predicament as temporary. One mindset wallows in failure, the other looks forward to success. By putting mistakes into perspective, achievers are able to see failure as a momentary event, not a symptom of a lifelong epidemic.
Set Realistic Expectations
Unrealistic goals doom people to failure. For instance, if a person hasn't exercised for five years, then making it to a gym twice a week may be a better goal than running in next month's marathon. Also, some people insensibly expect to be perfect. Everyone fails, so expect setbacks and emotionally prepare to deal with them.
Focus on Strengths
Don't invest time shoring up non-character flaws at the exclusion of investing in your strengths. People operating from a position of strength enjoy a far lower rate of failure than those laboring in areas of weakness. You're built to give your talents to the world; be diligent about finding expressions for them in your career.
Vary Approaches to Achievement
In the Psychology of Achievement, Brian Tracy writes about four millionaires who made their fortunes by age 35. On average, these achievers were involved in 17 businesses before they finding the one that took them to the top. They kept trying and changing until they found something that worked.
Bounce Back
Rehashing missteps and blunders for too long sabotages concentration and eats away at self-confidence. When dealing with failure, achievers have short memories. They quickly forget the negative emotions of setbacks and press forward resiliently. While taking pause to learn from failures, achievers realize that the past cannot be altered.
Summary
I believe it's nearly impossible for any person to believe he or she is a failure and move forward at the same time. For those who have been downsized, let go, or bankrupted, the temptation may be to internalize failure. My hope is that anyone who has suffered setbacks recently will be able to separate life's unfortunate events from their self-worth. Failure, like death and taxes, will happen. Your response to failure holds the key to your future.
Rock of Ages
Because of strong waves that day, we had to walk from one end of the Capones Island to the other in order to get to the lighthouse, which was the main attraction of this small island in Zambales. It was an unexpected trek and one in which i was not prepared for physically. It was midday and we had to walk one hour almost non-stop without drinking water and little shade. I was so dehydrated, could no longer breathe normally and felt the weakness of my knees especially while we were walking the stony shores. I wanted to give up many times but the beauty of the island urged me to go on. Our 12-year old tour guide kept looking back at me with a *smirk* in his face as if to say, "ang bagal-bagal mo naman ate, e." With JP guiding me especially when we had to climb rocky paths and inclined hillsides, we were able to reach our destination, with me still in one piece.
By then however, thirst was almost killing me. Just to give you an idea of how thirsty I was, I saw bottles of mineral water at the lighthouse thrown away by tourists who went there ahead of us and looked hard and thought that if those bottles of water were not completely empty, I would not hesitate to drink from them! I even saw bottles of Gatorade brought by this other group of young people who have reached the island a few minutes ahead of us. They left their bottles of Gatorade as they ascended the lighthouse and when I saw the colorful bottles and their contents, I asked JP if he thought it would be okay to drink some! I was not even thinking of asking permission! Grabe talaga ang uhaw ko!
During the return trip, I had my walking stick with me and JP by my side the whole time. I felt even weaker as soon as we started going through the slippery and stony shores again. I believe what kept me going on and prevented me from stumbling and hurting myself are the prayers and songs of praises in my heart. My hope was to rely in His strength instead as I have lost much of my own. It was not hard to see God's hands in our midst. The majestic rocks in the island reminded me of our God's own majesty. I thought of His faithfulness and asked Him to steady my steps and strengthen me further. In my heart, I believe that He did so because I was not harmed in any way not just during that trek but during the entire trip. Truly our God is the Rock of Ages, faithful and true.
Of all the many wonderful things God has been called before, the Rock of Ages has remained a favorite. Sharing to you all the lyrics of the song I was singing in my heart back in Capones. My hope is that, in your own journeys, you may be blessed by the words of praises as well:
You're a healer in the time of sickness
A comfort in the time of grief
You're a stronghold in the time of weakness
A helper in the time of need
Rock of Ages
You are faithful and true
You are able to do
What you have promised
Rock of Ages
You are faithful and just
I will always put
My trust in You
By then however, thirst was almost killing me. Just to give you an idea of how thirsty I was, I saw bottles of mineral water at the lighthouse thrown away by tourists who went there ahead of us and looked hard and thought that if those bottles of water were not completely empty, I would not hesitate to drink from them! I even saw bottles of Gatorade brought by this other group of young people who have reached the island a few minutes ahead of us. They left their bottles of Gatorade as they ascended the lighthouse and when I saw the colorful bottles and their contents, I asked JP if he thought it would be okay to drink some! I was not even thinking of asking permission! Grabe talaga ang uhaw ko!
During the return trip, I had my walking stick with me and JP by my side the whole time. I felt even weaker as soon as we started going through the slippery and stony shores again. I believe what kept me going on and prevented me from stumbling and hurting myself are the prayers and songs of praises in my heart. My hope was to rely in His strength instead as I have lost much of my own. It was not hard to see God's hands in our midst. The majestic rocks in the island reminded me of our God's own majesty. I thought of His faithfulness and asked Him to steady my steps and strengthen me further. In my heart, I believe that He did so because I was not harmed in any way not just during that trek but during the entire trip. Truly our God is the Rock of Ages, faithful and true.
Of all the many wonderful things God has been called before, the Rock of Ages has remained a favorite. Sharing to you all the lyrics of the song I was singing in my heart back in Capones. My hope is that, in your own journeys, you may be blessed by the words of praises as well:
You're a healer in the time of sickness
A comfort in the time of grief
You're a stronghold in the time of weakness
A helper in the time of need
Rock of Ages
You are faithful and true
You are able to do
What you have promised
Rock of Ages
You are faithful and just
I will always put
My trust in You
that other blog of mine
so maybe some of you may already have known that i have this blog into which i post most of my photography related posts. if i sound redundundant at this point, thats because im too lazy to think of anything better to say... so in that blog i actually make sense in my posts (unlike in this one) and i mostly post about photography, mine and others. so if you're into this kind of *STUFF* and you have some time to kill, you are most welcome to visit that other blog and welcome to comment and critique my work and my workflow and my poor english :)
here's the link: http://pinayphotoholic.blogspot.com
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