In the first point, it is not necessary to avoid failure to gain success. In fact, it is difficult to succeed at all unless you give yourself the chance to fail first. So comes the phrase “fail forward fast”. This means that instead of worrying about failure at whatever it is you are doing, take action and get started. If you fail, learn from the mistakes and apply that new knowledge towards your goals. Correct and continue.

The second point is that you must focus your attention on the success you are working to achieve. As Earl Nightingale mentions in the video The Strangest Secret, your mind does not know the difference between failure or success and it will return to you whatever you place in it. So while it is important to accept your failures and learn from them, it is even more important that you do not dwell on the failure itself but focus on your upcoming success. By focusing on failure, you will only gain more failure.

Some things I do to keep focused on my goals is to write them down where I can see them. I create vision boards with pictures of the life I want. I create videos that incorporate multimedia to spark my memory and imagination.

Some examples:

I have two pieces of paper taped to my laptop. One that lists my top 5 passions (to figure this out read The Passion Test
). The other is a lists of actions I need to do each day that are consistent each day and support the achievement of my goals as shown on my list of passions.

Another is that I have placed an image on my computer’s desktop that shows what I want and every time I start my computer, shut it down, or change programs, I see that image. Currently, the image I have is the home that I designed as our future home is Costa Rica.

I also created a video around the idea of living in Costa Rica. It has images from the house and the surroundings as well as sounds that I would hear if I was actually there.

Finally, one very important thing that I do that helps me focus on success is to day dream. Some people thing day dreaming is wasteful. I have to disagree. Day dreaming often triggers new ideas or reminds me of things I need to do. Most importantly, it helps me focus on something I want. For those that think day dreaming is wasteful, I would suggest that they have not defined their dreams clearly enough to make day dreaming pleasant. I would point them towards The Passion Test: The Effortless Path to Discovering Your Life Purpose to correct that situation.

As simple as this video is, it goes a long way to help people see that failure is not the problem when it comes to having trouble reaching success. The problem comes when people let those failures stop them. When they stop getting up after getting knocked down. As you let your failures become the excuses that weigh you down, your dreams start to fade.

None of the people in this video let the “experts” determine their success. None of them agreed that they would never succeed. They knew what they wanted and they did what needed to be done to get their. It may have hurt at the time, but they continued on.

And it’s not like any of these people had instant success. Looking into their histories, you will probably find that they were some of the hardest working individuals in their fields before they achieved greatness. In fact, the supposed failures that they had experienced in the past could have been the reason that they had to work so hard to succeed. Maybe they did have a fault that COULD have prevented them from succeeding, but they didn’t let that stop them.

Personally, I have no aspirations to be as good at a sport as Michael Jordan, as funny as Lucille Ball, as inventive as Thomas Edison, or as original as Walt Disney, etc. What I do know is I have dreams that I want to make come true and I have ideas of how I am going to do that. I also know that…

• whenever I play a sport, I put everything I have into it.
• I am not afraid to bring out the humour.
• I have ideas that will make a difference in other people’s lives.
• my creativity has a power of its own.
• etc.

What I am saying is that I am not afraid to put myself out there on a limb to achieve something I want.

Everything you can dream can be achieved, it is just a matter of finding your path. The road may be rough and windy. Look at the journey as a blessing, not as a penance. Take from your journey lessons that will help you on the road ahead.

Stop letting failure stop you. Learn from failure and let it drive you to success.

Many people find themselves stuck in front of the TV for many hours a week. Statistics about television usage are depressing and that is one of the reasons that I stay away from the TV during the week as much as I can. The news drives me crazy. Good sitcoms are rare. Dramas are often over done. My opinion is that TV is a black hole and it sucks the life and creativity out of you. All the said, where did I find myself this morning? Yes, that’s right.

So what do you do when you are like this? What puts you into a mental state where you just need to shut down? For me, the biggest cause is…well, ME! I start thinking about what I am doing and what I am working to achieve and I sometimes start to think that it won’t happen. I have trouble sleeping. I get grumpy. I stop enjoying life. When this happens…I get scared! I get scared of the unknown. I am doing things that I have never done before. I get scared of failure! What happens if I don’t pull it off? I get scared of what other people with think of me! I want to inspire people, not disappoint them.

It’s when I get scared that I change my mindset. There have been many times in my life where I was faced with the unknown, possible failure or with the prospect of letting someone down and I simply laughed it off. Chalk it up to part naivety, part stubbornness, part ego and part vision.

It’s this vision that I have set before me that allows me to pull out of my lethargy and move forward. To do the things that I need to do to get things done. It is this vision that get me excited again. Without a vision, how would I get encouraged? How would I get motivated?

It’s this vision, that makes me take action when I don’t even know what to do. When I pulled myself away from the TV, I didn’t know what I was going to write today. I just started writing. My actions led to my excitement. Action is what inspired me.

If you want to get excited about your life, figure out your vision and take action.