Get out of the box Part 5 - Fear of Failure
Get out of the box Part 5 - Fear of Failure.
We've briefly looked at three sides of the box that keeps us in complacency. Surprisingly, the emphasises in the last side is not on failure, but on the fear of that failure.
If I asked you: "What's the opposite of success," are you likely to answer with: "failure"? Most people would, and why not? That's what we've been taught.
We have, however, seen in this series that Thomas Edison, with his ten thousand attempts at making the light bulb, doesn't regard failure as the opposite of success, but rather, he sees failure as a necessary part of the path to success. Many great people from history share Edison's view of failure.
So, what would Edison and his illustrious group of powerful friends regard as the opposite of success? The answer is "fear."
By way of simple definition, success means "satisfactory completion of a goal, task or action." Success is the happy ending of what you DO!
In contrast, fear is opposite in its definition and wants us to "do nothing in anticipation of not completing tasks to satisfaction." How ironic! Fear wants you to do nothing because you may not be happy when completing the task - so you don't complete the task - and end up unhappy anyway! No really - Duh!
We need to take a page from Edison's life. His attitude towards his ten thousand failures is summed up in an interviewe he gave: "I either win or I learn." Sportsmen and women regard this cycle of "do, fail, learn, do, win" as PRACTICE.
You wont always succeed the first time around. And that's okay. Failure will give you a chance to learn, and to practice the success you want, putting you in the same class as Thomas Edison and thousands of sports stars.
If you don't quit when you fail, you will choose to learn and win. Now, that's getting out of the complacency box successfully!
We've briefly looked at three sides of the box that keeps us in complacency. Surprisingly, the emphasises in the last side is not on failure, but on the fear of that failure.
If I asked you: "What's the opposite of success," are you likely to answer with: "failure"? Most people would, and why not? That's what we've been taught.
We have, however, seen in this series that Thomas Edison, with his ten thousand attempts at making the light bulb, doesn't regard failure as the opposite of success, but rather, he sees failure as a necessary part of the path to success. Many great people from history share Edison's view of failure.
So, what would Edison and his illustrious group of powerful friends regard as the opposite of success? The answer is "fear."
By way of simple definition, success means "satisfactory completion of a goal, task or action." Success is the happy ending of what you DO!
In contrast, fear is opposite in its definition and wants us to "do nothing in anticipation of not completing tasks to satisfaction." How ironic! Fear wants you to do nothing because you may not be happy when completing the task - so you don't complete the task - and end up unhappy anyway! No really - Duh!
We need to take a page from Edison's life. His attitude towards his ten thousand failures is summed up in an interviewe he gave: "I either win or I learn." Sportsmen and women regard this cycle of "do, fail, learn, do, win" as PRACTICE.
You wont always succeed the first time around. And that's okay. Failure will give you a chance to learn, and to practice the success you want, putting you in the same class as Thomas Edison and thousands of sports stars.
If you don't quit when you fail, you will choose to learn and win. Now, that's getting out of the complacency box successfully!
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