[Questions: larry@larrylitwin.com]
“What’s the key to being a successful entrepreneur?” Change how you
think about failure.
Failure is the “F word” of business – It’s not polite to mention it. After
all, failure is what happens to other people, right? But what happens when
we ourselves fail? We either try to quickly forget the experience, or we
wallow in self-doubt and recrimination.
If you’re in business, sooner or later, you’re going to have failures. But
sometimes, these “failures” can turn out to be fortunate. They force you to
re-examine your goals, decisions, methods. Then, you can choose to take a
different – better – path.
Here’s how the best entrepreneurs deal with failure:
• Redefine it. Experienced entrepreneurs make a failure a learning
experience.
• Analyze it. If – when – you fail, take a close look at the causes. After each
and every setback, big or small, take a clear cold look at what happened.
• Depersonalize it. Stop kicking yourself; everybody fails. While you must
analyze your mistakes, you won’t learn anything if you’re too busy
beating up on yourself.
• Change it. Remind yourself of what you learned and actively try to
change your behavior. Be patient and forgiving because change takes
time.
• Get over it. Move on. Don’t dwell on your successes or on your failures.
You’ve got a life to live, and each day is precious. So, like the old song
says, ”Pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and start all over again.”
Rhonda Abrams – www.rhondaworks.com
[Questions: larry@larrylitwin.com]