Paul McKenna argues that “…‘failure’
is an attitude, not an outcome”. It is
more related to your perspective rather than actual results. He describes how after his 700th
unsuccessful attempt to invent the electric light, Thomas Edison told a
reporter, “I have not failed seven hundred times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those seven
hundred ways will not work. When I have
eliminated all the ways that will not work, I will find the way that it will
work.”
If you’ve ever been labelled
a failure, you’ll know how bad this feels and even experiencing an event you
give that name is traumatic. So why not
eliminate this word from your vocabulary?
Instead you could have not yet succeeded, had a learning experience or
achieved a different outcome from that intended. This is not taking away your powers of
analysis or ability to make clear decisions, it is minimising the emotional
baggage and judgements connected with this ‘f word’.
We act on what we believe to
be true. Someone who thinks they have
already avoided success is likely to be more apprehensive at their next
attempt, they might talk about their previous attempt and let this past
negativity leek out into the present, they might carry along upsetting feelings
such as disappointment, guilt and anger, and of course they’ll be under even
more pressure to succeed this next time.
All this is avoidable by taking a different perspective of the previous
situation.
So what if you’ve already
given a negative label to some past event?
First consider it from different perspectives, what did you gain from
the experience? What did it prevent you
from having to do/face? What lessons
have you learnt for the future? How
would you do things differently next time?
Then let go of any negative feelings you attached to the event, you
could give yourself an affirmation to help with this. For example ‘I’m a millionaire in
training.’ Practice makes perfect!
Having the mindset for success is part of the Life Puzzle piece 'I set myself free'. Claim your FREE Life Puzzle Analysis by contacting Debbie...
Debbie Reeds
Soul Sanook Life Coaching
