Addeson
Try this exercise: Imagine something that you passionately desire. Examine that outcome using all your senses.
How do you describe it?
What sensation do you get when you touch it?
How does it sound?
How does it smell or taste?
Is it clear in you mind?
Do you still want it?
If so, then go for it!!
You can use this exercise or make up one on your own. Remember, imagination knows no boundaries.
5: Navigate through failure
Failure is good. There are four elements that will help you understand how to navigate through failure.
1)You have taken a risk or attempted a task
2)You know that approach does not work
3)You gain a different perspective
4)You have the opportunity to start again
The first element – You have taken a risk or attempted a task means you are active. You knew what you wanted and attempted to get it. Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States of America, in his Citizenship in a Republic speech at the Sorbonne, Paris characterizes this best when he told his audience:
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who, at worst, if he fails at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
The second element – You know that approach does not work. In the words of Bill Murray in the movie Stripes – “That’s a fact Jack.” Thomas Alva Edison was asked how it felt to have failed 10,000 times before inventing an electric lamp. Edison corrected the inquiry by saying he had not failed 10,000 times but he had found 10,000 ways not to invent the electric lamp.
“It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success.”
Havelock Ellis
The third element - You gain a different perspective. Failure is in the eye of the beholder. My son, RT, played cornerback on his Pee Wee football team. One Saturday morning he was playing a team that ran the power sweep like the Old Cleveland Browns when Jim Brown was a star in the AFL. Sweep after sweep the team would come around the corner and RT would get wiped out. RT and his teammates were only able to stop the sweep a few times. I was standing on the sidelines trying to figure out how to console him for his failure to contain or slow down the power sweep. The game mercifully ended and I waited for RT to come off the field. I prepared a little pep talk about trying his best and better luck next time. When he got to me I asked him about the other team’s power sweep and what did he think? He looked at me and said, “I know why they were running the sweeps all day.” I was curious and asked him to explain. He said, “They ran the sweep because they were afraid to pass against me.” Wow what we learn out of the mouths of babes. I learned a lesson that day.
The fourth element – You have the opportunity to start again. There is the old adage - if at first you don’t succeed try, try again. The difference between failing and succeeding could be one more try. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America embodied the fourth element.
Failed in business in1831
Defeated in Legislature in1832
Failed in business again in 1833
Defeated for Speaker in 1838
Defeated for election in 1840
Defeated for Congress in 1848
Defeated for Senate in 1855
Defeated for Vice President in 1856
Defeated for Senate in 1858
Elected President in 1860
How many times must you fail before you win? Only enough until you win.
6: Goals - GOing After Life’s Successes
Goals help you achieve what you desire. This is your success. Going after life’s success is striving toward your dreams, your passion and your purpose. I define going after life’s success with three elements:
a)Develop a clear goal
b)Acquire the resources to make it happen
c)Relentlessly focus resources on your goal
Your goals must reflect your values. When your goals and values are in sync your chances of living both are exponentially enhanced.
The first element of going after life’s success is a GREAT© goal. This is an acronym to guide you in setting goals: Gratifying, Reasonable, Explicit, Achievable, and Time-based.
Gratifying: Your goal should fulfill your desire. Its completion should bring satisfaction. This aspect of your goal creates the motivation and the drive to complete the tasks necessary to claim your prize. The reward is sweet and you are pleased. When I was a youngster the idea of making the school basketball team gave me goose bumps. When I finally made the team it was gratifying!!
Reasonable: Your goal should be within the bounds of your common sense. In other words, whatever makes sense to you. Remember, you will determine what your goals are and what they mean to you. In my case, making the basketball team made sense to me based on my experiences on the playground. I grew up and played well against guys who made my school’s basketball team. I figured when the time came for me to go out for the team I could make it also.
Explicit: This step is your first step. Your goal should be definite. You should be specific in what you want. Just like your values assessment, you need to know what your goal looks like. You should easily be able to recognize it when you achieve it. Next, write it down. Writing your goal down is commitment. How does it look on paper? How does it sound when you say it out loud? You can review it, revise it and hone it down until it is exactly what you want. My goal was to make the school team. The words “making the school team” were melodic to me.
Achievable: You goal can be accomplished by mental or physical effort. Your ability to think, learn or work hard will make your goal possible.
“Leaders aren't born they are
