You’re a Failure Be Proud of It
Almost no one wants to admit this, but you are failing. It could be any aspect of your life. Emotionally, financially, even romantically. Maybe you just can’t open that damn pickle jar by yourself. This is okay. And surprisingly, normal. Everyone is failing, that is the key to life. So say it out loud, and embrace the hell out of it. You are failing.
I know, it sounds insane, but it’s true. You’ll have to realize this before you can make any real progress. Alright, I’m done browbeating you. Let’s start with the definition of failure — “a lack of success.” Most people think this is the worst thing in the world. I mean, can you blame them? The connotation of this word alone is horrible. So let’s reword this and make it a little better. This is the real definition of failure — “the road to success.” Yeah, that is a lot better. You can’t be on the road to success without failure, they go hand in hand.
The Road To Success
Thomas Edison once famously said, “I didn’t fail. I found 10,000 ways it didn’t work.”
This is the mindset that every successful person has. I don’t care if you forget everything in this article, but always remember this: it wasn’t a failure, it was a way it didn’t work. Failure and success are both forward moving. You can’t move forward with one without the other. Now that we are on the same page. How can you use this in everyday life? That’s easy, persistence. If you are persistent you’ll never give up. You’ll take a shot knowing this might be the one that makes it. You’ll learn from past mistakes and finally find a way that works. You’ll understand that success is all about adapting to and overcoming what stands in your way. The only way to truly be a failure — is to give up.
Giving up is extremely easy, everyone does it. When the idea of failure gets rooted in our heads it’s impossible to move forward. In fact, this idea of failure is the only obstacle stopping you from your goals. So, let me give you some background.
Failure Happens Everyday
I have worked in sales positions for almost my entire life. I’ve never been extremely amazing at selling; I’m not a caricature of The Wolf of Wall Street. Never was, and never will be. I just talk to people. About everything under the sun. See when you start in sales, one of the first things you learn is The Law of Averages (also known as the gambler’s fallacy). This law states, “most future events are likely to balance any past deviation from a presumed average.” In simpler terms, The more shots you take the higher your chance for success. Now, this law is not mathematically sound, but we’ll use this as a motivational ideal. See with the Law of Averages you take something prone for failure and see how many times it takes to lead to success. This will give us a ratio, which we can use to motivate us to take the next shot.
For example, if I told you, “To sell a car you need to talk to ten people. If you can sell this car, I’ll give you $250.” The numbers show there is a ratio of 1 to 10 (10%). You’ll think ten failures is equal to one success. Now, think about how many people you already talk to in a day. You’ll realize that talking to 10 people isn’t going to be hard. You could easily make that $250. That might be your electric bill you will no longer have to worry about. This is how the Law of Averages works. It gives you the motivation to look failure in eye, and move into success.
I work at a car dealership. The Law of Averages is something I deal with every day. If I have a monthly goal of 15 cars, and I know I have a ratio of 1 to 5 (20%). I have to talk to at least 75 people per month. This gives me a number to shoot for. A personal goal. I know that if I talk to 75 people, I will sell 15 cars. I could look at this and say I have talked to 75 people but failed 60 times. I was only successful 20% of the time; I missed out on so much extra income potential. I am a failure. Unfortunately, this is an extremely flawed mindset, so I have to change it.
If I look at this as a huge failure, I will be mentally defeated. There is so much that goes into the buying process, I would be stupid to think it always comes down to just me. Occam’s Razor says the simplest answer is usually the right answer. So let’s examine the buying process briefly. To buy, people have to have the need, want, ability, and authority to buy. Only a select few of people who come to a car dealership actually have these boxes checked. I can only do so much to change their opinion. I would kill myself trying to. At the end of the day, most people are unqualified to buy. It’s a simple fact and can be used with every single profession. In the famous words of my sales manager, “Control what you can control.”
What Can You Control?
Controlling what you can control is the best mindset to have. It removes your emotional attachment to the situation. It allows you to analyze your actions and failures as unbiased as possible. Allowing you to take action and change what you can change. However, you won’t be beating yourself up over every mistake you make. You will be happy you can look at your failures this way. You will be proud to fail because it will make you better.
Every successful person has conditioned themselves into this different mindset. The mindset of knowing that failure is okay, and to take pride in it. The very idea of asking themselves, “How many times do I have to fail, to succeed.” The more avenues you take, the higher your chance of success. If you found a way that didn’t work, you learn from it and move on. It is that simple. Recondition your brain to be successful.
You’re Standing in the Way
Remember you are your biggest enemy. The harder you are on yourself the worse you will judge your failures. It happens with everyone. It happens to me daily. You just have to fight through it. You have the persistence and determination to recondition your thoughts. The minute you understand you are the only one getting in your own way, that is the minute you will be successful.
This advice fits in with whatever goal you are trying to accomplish. You can make that blog you’ve always wanted. You can make the dropshipping website you’ve been telling your friends is a good idea. Hell, you can finally open that damn pickle jar. Apply it to everything you can think of and nothing will ever get in your way. Looking at failure logically will show, failure truly is the road to success. You can’t have success without failure. It’s impossible. You will fail in some way, every day of your life. You have to be okay with this and just keep trying, because, with enough time, all your “failures” will lead to success.
