Journal 3 Don’t Be Afraid To Take a Chance

One of the greatest rationales we have as individuals for not setting and attaining our goals is anxiety that we may possibly make a mistake. It is only human to want to be assured that we will flourish before we step out and take any chances. But by hang on for this intangible promise we fail to notice a critical truth: errors, blunders and missteps are the way we learn! Some of the best innovations have come from mistakes.

Research papers on accomplishments, fiascos and education have revealed, again and again, that suc
cess does not generate success; failure generates success. Our group project is on the 13 essentials involved in The Apple Corporation. The CEO of Apple Computers expressed, “I believe the overall quality of work improves when you give people a chance to fail." So let’s go back even further to a former father of invention, Thomas Edison has been quoted to say, “after nearly 1,000 prototypes that didn't work, that he had so far discovered over 900 ways not to make a light bulb.” Mr. Edison’s greatest achievement, with the light bulb and many of his other inventions, was centered on his motivation to go from disappointment, to blunders, to failure without losing his passion and excitement.

Mr. Edison isn't the only individual who has experienced failure. We can look for inspiration in many of “the greats.” Did you ever hear of Macy’s department store? R.H. Macy went broke the first seven attempts at the retail business. Martina Navratilova the famous tennis player lost 21 of 24 first matches against Chris Evert. We can look at the famous athlete Babe Ruth; he struck out over 1,300 times. Each and every one of us makes a lot of mistakes along the way. It is to our advantage to see the value in our mistakes, exploit all the possibilities and capitalize on them. After all it was once said you can’t get rich blogging. Take a look at this if you believe that … 

http://capitalgainsandgames.com/blog/andrew-samwick/397/who-says-you-cant-get-rich-blogging

So we know that getting it correct the initial try can impede creativity and success. We want those inaccuracies to help us model and outline what we really mean by success. Of course, along with our horror of making mistakes, there is the complicated issue of a definite definition of success.  As individuals we gauge our lives, accomplishments and victories by what we have achieved or by how other people view us? Take a stand give credit where it is due be proud of who you are. Take a step by   looking at success as conquering our own actions and setting goals and achieving them step by step. Remember Self authenticity, set your objective and moving forward with integrity are within our power. Someone else's view of our masterpiece is not. You will find that it is far more fulfilling to applaud the victories within our control and doing the things we said we wanted to accomplish, than hang on for someone else's endorsement.

My advice to all my fellow readers, notice I don’t call you followers because I want you to be leaders. Start falling down, make lots of mistakes. Don’t be afraid to take credit for every fall, every bump and bruise, as long as  every single time you get back up and take charge with integrity. Mistakes… this is how we gain knowledge. Failures are our true successes, and when we do attain those results we  aspired, they will mean so much more because we earned them through our feats, our bravery, (overcome the fear) and our drive to success.