Stop Making The Same Mistakes...Make New Ones
- Richard Grehalva
- Mar 23, 2017
- 3 min read
A friend of mine said to me the other day, “I wish we would make new mistakes, instead of making the same mistakes.” I started to think about what he said, and realized the lesson we could all learn from this simple statement.
Have you ever held back on doing something because you were afraid of failure? Most people have! Lets face it; no one likes to fail. None of us likes to feel like were ineffective, weak or lacking in any way. That is exactly how failure makes us feel.
However, you may be surprised to know that failure doesn't exist, until YOU say it does. In the dictionary, failure has several definitions:
Failing to do or perform
A state of inability to perform a normal function adequately
Giving way under stress
A lack of success
Look carefully at those definitions and you'll probably realize that they have one thing in common, when it comes to goal achievement: Failure is a PERCEPTION.
Think about this... we were not born with this perception. If we were all of us would still be crawling because learning to walk means failing before we succeed.
The moment you decide to give up or stop working toward your goals, failure is born.
However, what if you never do that? What if you continue working toward your goals one step at a time, for as long as it takes? There is no failure, then is there?
This insight should be very encouraging, especially if, you’ve been working toward goals and not yet seeing positive results. Simply keep going and you cannot fail!
Here are three tips to help you stay strong and focused on your goals:
1) Never give yourself an out.
Most people do this without even realizing it. They are willing to work hard on achieving their goals, until the going gets too rough or their motivation dwindles. Don’t do that! Commit to making your goals happen, no matter what! Never quit, contemplate admitting failure or lose your inner determination.
2) Don’t get hooked on a specific time frame for completion.
It's okay to set a general timeline, but be aware that some circumstances will be beyond your control. So, you can’t say for sure when your goal will be achieved. If you do that, then you're just setting yourself up for failure! Instead, get a general idea of when you would like your goal to be completed. Then, take it a day at a time and focus on making progress. Not reaching the finish line, in as little time as possible.
3) Finally, be sure that you don’t view obstacles and setbacks as failures.
The two are completely different. An obstacle, setback or delay means only one thing: it is not yet time, for your goal to be completed. That is it! It doesn’t mean you failed, that you're weak or that you will never achieve your goals. It simply means you are not done. You have got to keep moving forward and find a way around, or through, the obstacle.
Failing happens when we fall into this trap:
If you believe you have failed, then you have.
If you believe you do not have the ability to succeed, then you don’t.
If you believe you cant handle the pressure of achieving your goals, then you can't.
If you believe you are not successful, then you are not.
Failure only exists in your own mind!
“Do and Do Not”...”Can and Cannot” are both choices. So, which one will you choose?
Change Your Mindset and Change Your Results...
