All of us want to be successful. All of us have big
dreams. We all try very hard to achieve them. But on our way to achieving those
dreams,
if we face a failure, we just break down totally. Sometimes we don't
even feel like trying the same job again just because of the failure we
faced in the previous attempt. And if we get up and start doing it, we
are not able to put our 100% in it. Consciously or unconsciously, the
fear of failure affects our performance. Students put so much effort in
studying for exams, and if they end up getting a B or C, then they
hardly look forward to next semester. If we stop doing everything just
because of the fear of failing, then the world will come to an end.
Then, what exactly should we do to overcome it? Let's take some moments
and see if we are able to conquer the failure or if failure would be
able to conquer us!
Changing point of view-->>First of all, we have to stop looking
at failure in a negative way. People tend to link failure with
weakness, stupidity, and dumbness. I totally disagree with that. I
believe if you are doing something, and you think you are just perfect
in it, that means something seriously is going wrong with it. When a
person thinks he is perfect, he has closed all doors for any growth or
improvement. Whenever there is imperfection, there are million chances
of improvement. A person keeps on growing, but a so called 'perfect
person' just stops growing. He is in this illusion of being perfect
which hinders his growth forever. Look at failure as another step toward
success. Make yourself positive enough to see the good sides of
failure.
Don't label yourself a 'failure'-->> If you fail in something,
don't think of yourself as a failure. It just means that you haven't
succeeded in doing the work you were doing. It means that you are only
some steps away from achieving your goal. By labeling yourself as a
failure you close the door for all possibilities of achieving success.
Let me explain this with a beautiful example. There was a man who failed
in business at the age of 21; was defeated in a legislative race at the
age of 22; failed again in business at 24; overcome the
death
of his girlfriend at 26; had a nervous breakdown at 27; lost a
congressional race at age of 34; lost a senatorial race at age 45;
failed to become Vice President at the age 47; lost a senatorial race at
49; and was elected as the President of the United States at the age of
52! He was none other than Abraham Lincoln. He could have labeled
himself a failure and ruin his whole life. Instead, he decided to ignore
failure and fight against all odds.
Don't behave like a machine-->>Always remember that only
highly intelligent people face big failures. They are the ones who
cannot get things done in a right manner in first attempt. The reason
for this is very simple. A person who follows orders and fulfills them
right away, without thinking, is like a machine. There is no difference
between that person and a machine. You tell him something and he will do
it. However, a successful person is very different. If you tell him to
do something in a certain way, he will ask you why he can't do it in
other way. He will not follow your order blindly. He always say, "Why
not the other way?" He always thinks different from crowd and that's
where he succeeds.
An average student will follow what his professor has to say. He will
learn the whole book and his professor's lecture word to word. But a
genius-minded student would ask the professor so many questions about
the whys and teh wherefores. His questions will be beyond the
coursework.
That average student might end up getting a better grade than that
genius student. But in long term, it will be that genius student whose
name will be remembered for a long time. However, that average student
remains average forever his life. So, stop thinking that you are a weak
or dumb student if you end up getting a low grade in spite of asking so
many questions in every class. Rather be proud of yourself that your
mind is much more polished than other students in the class.
See what you have learned-->>When you fail to do something,
look back and see how much you have learned. You will be surprised to
see that you have learned so much that you would not have learnt if you
succeeded in the first attempt. Thomas Edison failed approximately
10,000 times while he was practicing on the light bulb! When people
asked him to quit this project, his reply was, "I have gotten lots of
results! If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I
am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a
step forward...."
If you have this kind of
attitude,
there is no way why you won't be successful. Every failure teaches you
something. You just have to see what mistakes you made and learn from
them. The more mistakes you make, the smarter you will become. Just
don't make the same mistake twice because that will make you stupid.
Learn from your first mistake and don't repeat it.
Never give up-->>No matter how people react to your failure,
you should never ever give up. If you start giving up after your every
failure, you will see that you will accomplish literally nothing in
life. You will start doing something and will quit it forever after you
fail in it. In this way, your skills will never be polished. Your
dreams will never see the light of day.
Every success story is also a story of a great failure. The only
difference is that the successful people never gave up. Instead, they
bounced back with a much more energy and enthusiasm every time they
failed. There was a partially deaf child who was expelled from school
because his teachers considered him too stupid to learn. His mother
decided to teach him and show everyone how intelligent her son is. Her
son was none other than the great Thomas Edison. Edison had only three
years of formal schooling.
Be patient-->>Don't get discouraged if it is taking a little
longer than you expected. The more time it will take the better
performance it will give. Don't think that you will never achieve your
goal or you will never get you want. Failure might cause your goals a
little delay but it doesn't mean that you will never achieve them. It
simply means that it will take just little longer. When Beethoven was
young, everybody used to tell him that he has no talent for music. He
knew that he will be the best composer after a considerable time. Today
everyone knows that he gave the world some of the best music.
Finally, as I wrote in my previous articles, we need to update our
dictionaries. We have to remove some of the words and change the meaning
of some of them. 'Failure' is one of those words whose meaning needs to
be changed. Today onwards, see failure as a chance to bounce back with
full of energy. Look at failure as an opportunity to improve more and
polish your skills. View your failure as a road to success. I am sure if
you follow the above suggestions sincerely, then you will be one of
those rare people who make it big no matter what circumstances are. All
the best!
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Richard Branson on Embracing Failure
Editor's Note: Entrepreneur Richard Branson regularly shares his business experience and advice with readers. Ask him a question and your query might be the inspiration for a future column.
Q: I have always been fearless, and gone after everything I
wanted. I launched a business selling my designs a few years ago, and it
succeeded, but I had to close it due to the recession. Now, having just
earned a master’s degree, I have decided to launch my own design firm
rather than look for a job, and for the first time in my life I find
that I am paralyzed with fear. How can I face down this fear in order to
go after my dreams? -- Tatiana Poblah, Montreal, Canada
Fear is something everyone must learn to cope with when tackling
life’s challenges, but this is especially important for entrepreneurs,
who are likely to face many hard choices in the process of getting a
business off the ground. And in the early stages of running a new
enterprise, the way you handle pressure can often make the difference in
whether it survives.
You may need to make some tough calls. During Virgin’s early years,
one difficult decision we had to make involved Virgin Records, which at
one point was in desperate need of cash to sign bigger artists. My
partners, Nik Powell and Simon Draper, were split on what to do: Nik
wanted to conserve our resources and slowly collect money through our
retail operations; Simon wanted to
invest
heavily in Virgin Records, betting on the notion that we could find the
next big artists that way. We needed quick growth, so I took the
riskier gamble, following Simon’s advice over Nik’s. It turned out to be
the right decision, but it took a lot of courage -- and not just from
me, but everyone on staff.
I’ve always found that the first step in overcoming
fear
is figuring out exactly what you’re afraid of. In your case, I wonder:
Is your anxiety a reflection of doubts about your business plan? Or is
it rooted in your experience with your previous venture?
If it is the former, and you are having doubts about your
idea, why not take your concerns to a key friend or mentor and carefully run through your
business plan?
Talking everything through with a trusted confidant, from your
business’ unique selling points to how it will stand out among
competitors, is a good way to help calm fears and give you some
perspective and confidence. Sometimes even the simple act of discussing
your plan will highlight things you’re unsure about -- often, small,
unresolved issues can be at the root of an entrepreneur’s anxieties.
But if your previous venture’s end is what is making you so hesitant,
try to take some comfort in the fact that most entrepreneurs fail when
they launch their first businesses.
Failing
doesn’t mean that you’re not cut out to run your own business. In fact,
many venture capital investors evaluate potential partners on how they
reacted to a failed business, seeing it as a test of character, rather
than a mark against them. The key to bouncing back is to learn whatever
lessons you can from the experience so that you can avoid making the
same mistakes in the next launch. This will help you to overcome your
fear, take a leap of faith and try again.
The experience of launching one of your first businesses reminds me
of the adventures and challenges I have embarked on over the years to
promote Virgin and put our businesses on the map. There were countless
times during our record-breaking hot-air balloon trips when I wondered
whether we were going to make it back down to earth alive. But every
time, I learned lessons from making mistakes during previous trips and
was able to adapt.
Another example: A few years ago I was helping to launch Virgin
America’s new route from San Francisco to Las Vegas -- and upon arriving
at our casino hotel, I was taken to the top floor, given a harness and
told I was going to jump off the side of the building. It was dark and
windy, and I knew I should go back inside and tell everyone we needed to
postpone the jump. Instead, I was persuaded to go through with it. The
wind was up, and within seconds I found myself banging down the side of
the building, ripping my trousers and bruising my backside. It was an
extremely painful lesson, learned the hard way. But learning from
mistakes (and a combination of good fortune and adrenalin) is what has
gotten me through on many occasions.
Overcoming fear is not necessarily as easy as jumping off a building,
but it might be easier than what you’ve done: Watching a business fail
after putting your heart and soul into trying to make it succeed. But
don’t be too hard on yourself. Starting a new enterprise from scratch
and gathering the nerve to take risks that are similar to those you took
last time can be daunting for any entrepreneur. Just remember that
picking yourself up from a failed business in order to try again is the
bravest choice you can make.
Let’s hear from other entrepreneurs: Has one of your businesses ever failed? How did you find the courage to try again?
The author is an Entrepreneur contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
Questions from readers will be answered by Richard Branson in
future columns. Please include your name and country when you send your
question to
BransonQuestions@Entrepreneur.com.
