On Failure and Persistence

“Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure it just means you haven’t succeeded yet.”

Robert H. Schuller

“There is no failure except in no longer trying.”

Elbert Hubbard

“We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.”
Samuel Smiles

“Losers visualize the penalties of failure. Winners visualize the rewards of success.”

Dr. Rob Gilbert

“Never give in. Never. Never. Never. Never.”

Winston Churchill

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence,

Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education alone will not; the world is full with educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Calvin Coolidge

“Perseverance is a great element of success. If you knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Anything you want. Just take action. Today.

I understand. It is tough. You tried and tried. Nothing happened. Nothing. Not a thing. You are discouraged. You are ready to give up. You are angry and frustrated. The Gods are not favoring you. “How could I even believe that I will succeed?”- you ask. Maybe this plan is just not supposed to happen?!

But before you throw in the towel, let’s try to step away from the situation you are facing.

One step, oh, maybe another to get everything in perspective.

Is it humanly possible to take one more step? Can you keep upright for a day? Can you walk another mile? If you take all your faith, all the positive experiences you had in your life, all your beliefs in a supporting Universe, can you just show your real greatness for the last? Can you?

Let Thomas Edison inspire you while you ponder those questions:

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

 And please watch his short video:

 Inspiring Secrets About Persistence & Success -Bamboo Tree

Being persistent in the face of discouragement is a huge success in itself. Celebrate yourself. Celebrate the fact that you have tried a million times. Take the day off and let your project and yourself rest for a day. Step back. Let it go. Get out. Meet friends and share with them what troubles you. Take pride in your persistence. Celebrate as if the success you envision is already there waiting for you. Strengthen your faith. Gather energy.

Then tomorrow just take the next step.

Anything you want. Just take action. Today.

Well well, what’s that?

Come up with a smiling face,

It’s nothing against you to fall down flat

But to lie there – that’s disgrace.”

Edmund Cooke

Persistence. The common denominator of all successful individuals throughout history.

Are you persistent in following your dreams and taking action towards your goals? Not yet? The good news is you can improve yourself in Perseverance.

As with everything, it only needs attention, conscious action and …. Persistence.

Here is a short action plan for the times when you are ready to give up and continue to lie on your face frozen after falling down.

Step 1: Ask yourself this simple question: what will happen if I give up now? Face the consequences.

Step 2: What is the next step you will to take?

Step 3: What is in the way of taking that step? What is the hindrance you need to face?

Step 4: Now you have 3 options.

You can remove the obstacle.

You can ignore it.

Or simple disregard it on the basis of your situation and the hindrance you face.

Step 5: Take that leap and actually do what you set out to do.

Step 6: Rinse and repeat.

Step 7: And again. And again.

It is easy, isn’t it?

Let me finish with this wonderful quote from ancient times:

“The drops of rain make a hole in the stone not by violence, but by oft falling”

                                                                                     Lucretius

Anything you want. Just take action. Today.

And one more thing:  we all like to think about ourselves most of the time. Period. We are our most interesting topic.

Now, how much time do you spend on thinking about yourself, your plans, your failures, weaknesses, your own inner dialogue? Of course there is some fleeting seconds when you actually think about somebody else. How long? For an embarrassingly short time. I am sure you had this happened to you already: your friend is sharing a his/her success, failure, or any new/old experience with you and you, what will you say? “You know, I had this ….(put in experience) also, and I… (put in what happened to you or how you handled it)”. And you are back to me, me, me again. Fact of life.

So, next time you fear what your friend, enemy, neighbor, partner, or the stranger on the street will think of you, just count to five. Do you still believe that they are concentrating on your failure and judge you? Yes? Then count to 38 now. And I can guarantee you that they are already somewhere else, planning dinner, remembering their to-do lists or beating themselves up. Or trying to figure out what they have done to you as you are silent for exactly 43 seconds now. Perplexed expression on their face? You have evidence now.

Anything you want. Just take action. Today.

I failed many times in my life. I cried, got angry, got depressed, complained to whomever was willing to listen, ate as much chocolate as I could and cried some more.  But somehow, after some time I always got up again. 

One of my favorite 6-word wisdom is this Japanese proverb:

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”

Think back on your life and experiences and realize that most times you don’t even have to fail seven times to get to your dream.

And even if you do fall 20 times, what are your options?

You can give up on your ideas, your plans. This is the easiest option for many. But this comes with the highest price tag. Do you really want to look back on your life on your death-bed and cry about all those dreams you had but never managed to reach because you gave up too early?

And you can decide to make another try, take another route, find another method, ask for advice, take a rest and gather your energy again and make it happen this time. And the next time, you might fail, and the next…. Until you reach that goal, realize that dream, win your game, explore a new territory, and manifest your idea. Until you live your preferred vision of your life.

What other option do you have? What will you do next time you fall?

Anything you want. Just take action. Today. 

Why? – you might ask. If you fail at something, well, at least you took action. That action did not lead you to success.  But it taught you a valuable lesson. It gave you information and a very important at that: that way does not lead to success. 
You know now. That gives you the chance to try something else.

Feel free to come up with a new route to Success. Use that momentum of motion. You took action already, now it is easy to stay in the flow and continue. Do you remember Newton’s Law of motion from school? It states: a body at rest tends to remain at rest; a body in motion tends to remain in motion. Stay in motion!

The funny fact is that if you look at real successful people in every walk of life, they are the biggest “failures”. Yes, they failed more times than the rest. But did they get unmotivated to take the next step? No. They failed, then promptly stood up, stayed in motion and tried the next thing that might lead them to the outcome they were looking for.

But you don’t have time to fail? You want to have the magic answer now? I understand. Sometimes I would love the magic solution presented to me on a plate. I do. And when I finally get it, I have to complain: but it’s just not me! And how could it be?

It is a solution created to fit everybody’s taste and situation. Like a ready meal. It is prepared so a lot of customers would find it tasty. Well, if you like less salt… There is no way to customize that meal on the plate to your specifications. Eat it or leave it.
Or get motivated to prepare your own food.

Did you fail today? Great! You are on the best way to Success. What is the next pathway leading towards your goal that you can try today?

Anything you want. Just take action. Today.

Sometimes inspiration comes from places you never expected from.

Sometimes you follow your bliss and inspire others.

Sometimes a drop into an ocean can make the biggest waves.

And sometimes you just need to dance: Sasquatch music festival 2009 - Guy starts dance party

And before you ask, the song is Unstoppable from Santigold.

Do something extraordinary

Create a movement

Be unstoppable

We all know this lovely monster singing out in her siren voice: “Hey, you, you must take care of…(put in some really insignificant task) instead of …(put in the project that you need/must do, that will make a difference to your life or business). Hey, you, do something totally irrelevant (like checking emails the 3^rd time in an hour, call your girlfriend, check out some info you don’t really need on the internet) before you actually do that meaningful task (preparing an offer for a prospect, plan your week ahead, or continue writing your book in my case)!”

 But Not Today!

I offer some questions to ask yourself when you hear the siren sing to you next time: 

• What do you procrastinate exactly? 
• What feeling do you have inside when you think about the meaningful task you don’t seem to be able to begin? Is it fear? Uncertainty? Sadness? Anger?
• What does that procrastination bring, what is your benefit of not getting your task done?  I know, it is hard to believe, but there is always a benefit in there for you. Maybe you don’t have to face some facts like: you might not be perfect, your limited experience or knowledge, the next steps, people’s reactions or opinions, etc.
• What will be the consequences of not taking care of that meaningful task? Continued overwhelm? Your energy sapped to zero? Worrying about your success? Total inactivity?
• Are you willing to pray that price? No?

What can you do to get out of procrastination state? Here are some suggestions:

 *drink a glass of water with the intention that when you swallowed the last drop, you begin to work on your meaningful task. Too simple? Setting a conscious intention will do the trick many times!

 *take a few minutes to visualize the results, the benefits you reap after finishing your task

 *offer yourself a little luxury as a reward after you’re done with your task

 *watch a motivational video, or read some motivational quotes or text. The trick to make this suggestion work is to limit yourself to a few minutes of these activities and immediately afterwards return to accomplish your task.

 I found an 83 second motivational movie that might help you when procrastination hits you again:  Eat That Frog

 OK, I am getting down to business (and continue writing my book).

What is your meaningful task that you begin NOW?

For more than a decade I was struggling with this question. Intuitively I knew, that I am creative. But during those years of my studies and building my corporate career I saw no manifestation of creativity in my life. There was no need or space for it in my professional life. I questioned my abilities in the Creativity department and was dreading any creativity exercises.  

While I took up Ballet and Jazz dancing at the age of 22 and took as many classes and workshops as I could in my free time, I did not consider that as a creative expression. As a kid I was dreaming about choreographies and saw my favorite music as a dance in my mind. Unfortunately there were no opportunities to take ballet or any other type of dancing classes where I lived as a kid. Not to mention the fact that having an interest in dancing (of all things!) was not considered a worthy pursuit for life. I never forgot about my desire to learn ballet and jazz, but had to wait nearly 15 years for this particular dream to come true. In the last twenty years of my life I tried and danced many different styles, from ballet to musical, from belly-dancing to Scottish folk dance and many others in between. I LOVE to dance!

My creative breakthrough came 9 years ago, when I walked The Artist’s Way with a group of creative explorers. The Artist’s Way workshops changed my life. I began believing in my Creativity. I began practicing dancing again with the intention of telling beautiful tales of life to my audience. I performed many times at my parties and was enjoying this new creative expression in my life.

“Are you creative?” is not a dreaded question any more. I know, I am. And since I don’t question myself, nobody else does, either. That is the beauty of it. As soon as you change your deep belief about yourself and your abilities, everybody else does. As soon as you can declare yourself to be creative and take action to be better and better in your creative expression, your new image is accepted as the reality by the outside world.

When will you say out loud: “ I am creative”?

When do you begin practicing your chosen creative expression? Today is the best time to take action, to take that first dance step, to sing out loud, to write that first sentence, to begin research on your favorite topic, to create a new approach in your marketing, to put together your presentation that will establish you as the expert, to buy some flowers and to redesign your living room. Anything you want. Just take action. Today.

My number one “untolarable” place was the back of our garden.

There were a lot of broken things, work tools, broken toys just gathered there. I know, not a healthy practice to pack everything in one place where you don’t see it so you don’t have to deal with it. But that was the reality there.

We adults nearly never enter the “Jungle Out There”. Or at least until our kids decide to have some adventure and wander in the back of the garden.

And last week they did. And promptly found a dead mouse floating in one of the dead garden toys. Let me tell you, it was not a pretty picture! But certainly gave the kids their first education in death, and the end of a physical body. Now, that was definitely my “I can’t live with this any more” moment there.

I am very happy to report that we cleared all junk. We are even thinking about hiring a gardener to help us create a useful and usable spot out at the back.  I am thinking about a rose-garden…

Do you wonder what “The Clearing” is? Get your own copy of this life changing 7-week e-course at www.pathwaytocreativity.com/sq