Douglas Clark
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine
Do you ever wonder why you fail? Of course you do. Failure sucks but it seems unavoidable. We should all strive for success but be prepared for failure, because unlike success, failure can teach us a lot. We can learn where we need help, where we need practice, motivation, instruction, experience, focus, the list is almost endless. But failure can be deceiving. It can teach you to give up and that’s a terrible outcome. When you fail, you need to persist; not at failing, but at attempting the next success. To put it another way, if you failed, you need to go back to square one, start over again, and give it another go.
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine
Do you ever wonder why you fail? Of course you do. Failure sucks but it seems unavoidable. We should all strive for success but be prepared for failure, because unlike success, failure can teach us a lot. We can learn where we need help, where we need practice, motivation, instruction, experience, focus, the list is almost endless. But failure can be deceiving. It can teach you to give up and that’s a terrible outcome. When you fail, you need to persist; not at failing, but at attempting the next success. To put it another way, if you failed, you need to go back to square one, start over again, and give it another go.
Now I’m sure you’ve heard the old quote attributed to
Einstein, the line goes something like “The definition of crazy is trying the
same thing over and over again expecting a different result.” Okay, so I’m not
advocating craziness, but I am advocating persistence. Trying again, with a different
perspective, a different focus, a different motivation, a different plan, the
key here is to try again. I’ll put it into context for you. Regular exercise
and fitness is important to a person’s health, and it’s especially important to
me. So, I work out about three days a week. The habit now is so ingrained into
my psyche and daily life, I feel out of sorts when I don’t get to the gym. I’m
not a muscle head to be sure, but I have made the commitment to go. But how did
I do that, you might ask?
Well, in the beginning, every day I went to the gym,
I counted it as the first day, even if it was the third time that week. I told
myself that going on that day was the most important day and that I couldn’t
skip out on it. So I went. And on the days where work or personal requirements
got in the way, I made sure I went the very next day, keeping in mind that that
day was the most important day I needed to go. During times when I couldn’t go
three days a week, I made sure I went twice. Every week that was short, I made
sure the following week hit the mark. So you see, every time I failed, I tried
again, recommitting myself to what was important, keeping my goal in sight but
staying focused on Now.
It may seem ridiculous or just silly trying to trick your
mind into being committed. However, when you are trying to readjust your life
and mindset, you need to change the way you think about things. Remember if you
change your perspective, you change the world. This is the same idea. Give it a
shot.
Comments and questions are welcome. Thanks for reading.