Let your Failure cause you to Fall Forward

Your past does not disqualify you from starting over and moving forward. They tell you that “if at first you don’t succeed, try, and try again”. That works for some people in some situations but not everyone is so forgiving and not everyone will give you another chance. Many people think that just because you failed in one area of their life that it is impossible for you to still win in life. Although people may write you off and tell you that there is no way for you to rebound and abound in life;  tell them to throw that obituary away because you are about to start writing your new life story. Your mess-up is a set-up for your come-up! Sometimes failure is just what you need to propel you forward. Failure can be the tool that ushers you into what you really are supposed to do and not settle for what you have been doing.

Your past can be your anchor or your propeller. If your past could not disqualify you from starting, what makes you think that it can disqualify you from finishing your race. There can be success from a failure. There can be a rising from the ashes of your life. Let the failure lift you up and not weigh you down. It is easy to give up on yourself and your future but your latter days can be greater than your former days if you don’t faint in your failure! Yes you may have done what they said you did but you are not who they say you are!  Let that failure be the catalyst that pushes you forward and cause you to:

Reexamine your life: Look at the circumstances that caused you to end up where you are. What changes can you make, what boundaries can you establish and what ideas can you generate to keep you from going back? Tell yourself “I won’t go back”.

Re-position your life: What new connections can you make that will open doors of opportunity for you.Do you need to change cities, change jobs or change friends?  You may have to get away from some people or activities so that you can stay focused on your forward movement. If no new opportunity exists for you, create one!

Re-imagine your life: Now that you are on the other side of the failure, begin to develop a plan for your life and re-imagine what your new life can look like.  You said if you were given another chance you would do things differently so now is your chance – do it differently!

Run for your life: Start today! Don’t waste the moment! Do it Now! Let your failure cause you to fall forward and don’t look back. You can move forward my friend and there are  people who are willing to help you. not everyone will abandon you in your fail so look for your ray of hope when it looks like all hope is lost. Stay focused! Stay committed! Stay consistent and face your failure head on.

Don’t worry, I won’t Drown!

Throw me in Over my Head, don’t worry, I won’t drown! This is not a statement that you will hear every day. Is this something you have ever said to your father, your employer or your coach? Great people who are not afraid of a challenge, who run after the fight and look for opportunities to soar higher than those around them, like to be thrown into a situation that seems over their head. I know this may sound crazy to some people. But for those who are not afraid to launch out into the deep, where only a few dare to tread, are those who see the massive success when others seem to barely get by. The average person doesn’t like pressure, or doesn’t like to be challenged and only like the status quo. But there is a rare breed of people who say to their challenges “come on puppy dog, bring it on”! This individual is the type of person that sees the boundaries and says “no limits, only opportunities”. They see the obstacles and they say to them “look, this obstacle is a foundation to build my project on”. This person likes to be thrown in over their heads because they perform best under pressure. This person uses pressure; the pressure of a deadline, the pressure of an insurmountable situation as a catalyst to where they are going to. Are you the type of person that likes to be thrown in over their heads, or is the shallow end of the pool the only place where you can swim?

If you only expect average, you will only get average. Who ever goes into business just to be average? Who ever hires an employee just to be average? Who ever plays a sport to just be average? If you want what everyone else has, keep doing what everyone else does! I think that when someone hires someone or coaches someone  or educates some one, they are not looking for average. I believe they are looking for that person to excel in what they do. If you can only do good or have success when everything is going well you will collapse when things have a down turn. There are a group of people, however, who can stand in faith and believe for a miracle, even when faced with prospect of drowning . This type of person believes they will have a great reward, now or later. Diamonds look the best and cost the most when pressure is added to them over time. Oranges taste the best when they are put in a squeeze, and the best juices comes out. Gold is purified with a blast from a refiners fire. I think even you will out shine the rest when the heat of life  is applied to you.

I am reminded of a few passages from the Book of Hebrews that talks about some people who were thrown in over their heads. ” Through acts of faith, there were people who were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, and turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. There were women who received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Even others who braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn’t deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world. Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan.” To me, these people sound like they were in over their head but they kept on going after their promise.

What is holding you back from persevering forward? Instead of running from your pass, run towards your success. Instead of hanging out in the shallow end of life, go to the deep end. Ask your employer for a hard task and then show them what you’ve got bottled up on the inside of you. Take some time to pour out that business dream that someone told you wouldn’t work. Don’t be afraid to be in over your head because this puts you into survival mode. When you are in the survival mode, creativity, ingenuity, character, strength and insight will be formed. These are all qualities that will be absent if there is no pressure to force them to the surface. Don’t allow the enemy, the fear of failure, your past mistakes or others opinions of you keep you from becoming what you were destined to be. Allow pressure to take you higher and further than what is expected of you. Go ahead, throw me in over my head and watch what rises to the top, don’t worry, I won’t drown!

Eric Smith

Are you a Maker or a Taker?

A few years ago I heard someone tell me, Eric, there are three types of people in the world: Those that are in the game, those that are watching the game, and those that don’t even know that the game is being played. Sadly enough, there is a lack of leadership in the area of makers. Makers, unlike takers, don’t what for change, they implement it. Makers, unlike takers,  don’t wait for something to be handed to them, they go out and make things happen for them. Makers, unlike takers, are always thinking of other possibilities that have not been tried before, They are looking for creative ways to make something happen out of nothing.

Takers always settle. They seldom launch out into the deep and require more of themselves but always require more from others. Takers are primarily are looking for a hand outs and not hand ups. But if a Taker ever encounters a true Maker, they will never be the same. Something happens when you come in contact with a leader or someone who is not willing to let you settle, but who will call you up higher than where you currently are. A Maker has the capacity to mold a taker into a maker because good leadershifting will always shift you to another level if you are willing to go.

If you are a Taker, you have to be willing to get into the game and learn how it is played and then be willing to start your own game. If you are a Maker, you have to be willing to help takers shift their way of thinking and outlook on life. We need leaders who are not afraid to show others how to lead, take risks, be creative and adventurous. We need leaders who are willing to follow others so that they too can learn how to lead well.

Here are some characteristics of Makers:

• Makers are not so interested in who gets the credit for the job well done, but they are content with taking others along with them on the journey.
• Makers influence everyone around them and assist them in achieving their optimal results.
• Although Makers are responsible for the vision, they empower others to help bring the vision to pass. 
• Makers are people-persons and know how to creat buy-in from their team. 
• Makers have a high level of creativity and know how to strategize to bring their project to fruition. Makers are excellent communicators,  and they possess the ability to inspire others around them.

We need Takers and Makers. There are always going to be those that Make things happen, watch things happen and sadly those that don’t know what is happening. Wherever you find yourself today, you can change yourself and help in the change process of others.

Eric Smith