Drew – Page 4 – ArchMasters Architecture

Does Success Have A Finish Line?

Leadership, Management, Mindset, Startup Basics / Drew

Is your measure of success clear or are you striving for an undefined finish line? When you go on a vacation you know where you are starting from, where you are going and how you are going to get there. Even if you aren’t travelling to a new location, you are aiming for a new destination. If you want to bring success into your life, then those same elements are key. To create success, you must be clear on where you are right now, as well as what achieving success looks like to you. Success looks different for everyone so each of us must complete their own quest. As such, there are certain lessons that you must learn on your own in order to level-up in your life. To discover what success means to you, just follow this system. In the steps below you can create a plan to achieve the success you desire in whatever area of your personal or professional life you choose. You will discover the success habits you need to include in your life to achieve your goals. First, you need to decide exactly what you want to achieve (your goal) before you can expect to achieve it. Write it down. Be very descriptive and use the present tense as if it’s happening NOW. Write down WHY achieving this goal is so important to you. What does it mean to you? How motivated are you to achieve this goal? Then, write down how you will FEEL when you finally achieve your goal. How will your life look? How will your thoughts, feelings, or emotions change? Again, be very specific and detailed, and write using the present tense. Next, write down your current situation and how that makes you feel. Although that is how you feel right now, try writing it in the past tense. This will help you in changing the way you think about your situation and moving towards creating the success you want. Your mind will begin to distance itself from your current situation and further support you in moving towards your goal. You now have your starting and ending points on your journey to success. Now you need to find out HOW you are going to get there… What needs to change within you to shift your perception of your current situation and to get you from where you are to where you want to be? Write down each step. You will find that you will need to look at your mind-set, behavior and habits…your reticular activating system will actually prevent you from seeing possible scenarios that are contrary to your controlling beliefs. Identify potential blocks to achieving your goal. Write them down and add how you will overcome them if they pop up. If you cannot imagine possible obstacles or how to overcome them, then leave space to add to this section later. Clarity in this step will make this journey much less intimidating. By completing the tasks above you are conquering one of the key success habits; goal setting. You are also learning to understand yourself better, which is crucial for success because self-knowledge and a positive mindset will allow you be more resourceful in the moment using your natural skills. To achieve success you need to understand what success is, what it means to you and how you will achieve it. Then you need to take deliberate action. If you enjoyed this exercise and would like to try my newest Alphadog Awareness mini-course you can still get it for FREE here. ~Wishing you success!

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How A Flexible Definition Of Success Creates More Fulfillment

Leadership, Management, Mindset, With Audio / Drew

I get this question a lot given the name of my business (Alphadog Success). But it’s also something that I make sure to ask every person I speak with when working in a coaching or mentorship role. In everything I do, success is my goal. The word, “success,” holds special meaning for me. When I am successful, I accomplish my intended purpose in a given situation. When I try to do my best job at work and I achieve that, then I am successful. Although success sometimes eludes me, my intent in life is to succeed each time it is within my power. Trying times occur in my life, just as it does for everyone else and I accept this fact. Yet, I also know that I put forth my best efforts in even the toughest of circumstances. In conversations with my spouse, I always attempt to exert my attention, patience, and best communication skills to arrive at a successful exchange. She is very emotional, and I am much more intellectual. So, we speak different languages, and sometimes it can be more difficult for us to convey seemingly simple concepts to one another. With my dogs (and cats), I strive to have a positive impact and demonstrate understanding and loving care toward them at all times. They don’t have the same perspective of the world that we do, and it takes a lot of self-restraint sometimes to not get frustrated or annoyed with their behavior. As the workplace presents its own special challenges, I accept there may be times when I lack complete control over how things proceed. However, I still make success my goal…always. Sometimes, my view of what success looks like in a situation changes. But this fact shows my flexibility and reflects that the meaning of success can vary, depending on the specific details of a situation. It is important that you allow for some flexibility in your plan and your vision of success. Don’t be so hard on yourself if things don’t work out exactly as planned. Have you ever proposed to a significant other? And did it go as planned? The reality is that something that emotionally charged will rarely go as you envisioned it would. But as long as you are true to yourself and your relationship, then that doesn’t make it any less special. Today, regardless of the circumstances, success is my goal. Life is good, largely due to my daily efforts to succeed. I’ve come up with a few question for you to ask yourself, and I want you to really take the time to reflect on these questions enough to draft an answer. And make sure to record your answer! I don’t care if it’s written or typed, but until you get those words out of your head – this is just like any other thought. Self-Reflection Questions: Everything starts with your Mind. If you aren’t in control of your mind, you will never be able to control your success. Click the banner below to learn more about my free Alphadog Awareness Mindset Mini-Class or visit: https://alphadogsuccess.com/mini-class

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Why An Introvert Makes A Better Salesperson

Management, Sales, strategy / Drew

Let me start by defining the parties of today’s story. An Introvert is a person predominantly concerned with their own thoughts and feelings more so than with external things. An extrovert is a person predominantly concerned with external things or objective considerations. So, introverts aren’t necessarily shy, but, they are quieter than extroverts. Introverts will gladly open their mouths when talking about something they are passionate about, but tend to stay quieter when the topic is small talk. Why? Because small talk just isn’t important to them. Now, let’s say you have 2 salespeople – an extrovert and an introvert. The extrovert is likely to talk – and talk – and talk – which is exactly what you expect from a sales person. And in the midst of all this talking, the extrovert will make sales. However, the introvert will do something the extrovert commonly fails to do – the introvert will ask questions and LISTEN to the answers. I don’t mean they wait for the prospect to stop talking so they can begin extolling all the many benefits of the product. I mean they LISTEN. They want to know what’s keeping the prospect awake at night in relation to the problem the product solves. They want to know the prospect’s fears, desires, dreams, etc. They want to know what’s worked for the prospect, what’s failed for the prospect, and what that prospect really, truly wants so they can help this prospect get it. It’s this same sales person who will continue to use questions as they present their product or service, questions that direct the prospect to the desired conclusion – that this product is what they want and need. Shift Happens When You Ask Better Questions Everything else being equal, 9 times out of 10 the introvert salesperson will outsell the extrovert. All because they stepped back, asked questions, and listened closely to the answers, instead of just trying to sell their product. Introverted marketers have the same advantage as introverted sales people. They dig to discover what it is their prospects truly want. They ask questions, be it in person, over Skype, in forums, via email, etc. And they pay close attention to the answers. These same marketers spend time researching what successful marketers are doing. They don’t assume they already have the answers. Instead, they look to those who’ve succeeded and they ask how it was done and how it can be duplicated. That being said, extroverts can master the skills of asking questions and listening to the answers as well as any introvert, if they try. It doesn’t come as naturally for them, but it will come with practice and patience. And if you look at the most successful people in the world, what you will find is they stand on the shoulders of those who came before. They asked questions, got the answers and used this knowledge to carve their place in the world. Try it. Next time someone asks you for advice, ask them questions first. Next time someone asks about your product, ask them about their needs first. Next time someone is on a forum looking for help, ask them for more information. And then pay close attention to what they say before you respond. This falls under my favorite category to talk about, something I call: “un-common sense”. But, asking the right questions and listening to the answers can be one of the most rewarding and highest paying skills in the world.

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What Are SMART Goals & How To Use Them

Management, Startup Basics, strategy, With Audio / Drew

What Does SMART Goals Mean? SMART is an acronym that you can use to guide your goal setting. To make sure your goals are clear and reachable, each one should be: How to Use SMART Goals 1. Specific Your goal should be clear and specific, otherwise you won’t be able to focus your efforts or feel truly motivated to achieve it. When drafting your goal, try to answer the five “W” questions: Example Imagine that you are currently a marketing executive, and you’d like to become head of marketing. A specific goal could be, “I want to gain the skills and experience necessary to become head of marketing within my organization, so that I can build my career and lead a successful team.” 2. Measurable It’s important to have measurable goals, so that you can track your progress and stay motivated. Assessing progress helps you to stay focused, meet your deadlines, and feel the excitement of getting closer to achieving your goal. A measurable goal should address questions such as: Example You might measure your goal of acquiring the skills to become head of marketing by determining that you will have completed the necessary training courses and gained the relevant experience within five years’ time. 3. Achievable Your goal also needs to be realistic and attainable to be successful. In other words, it should stretch your abilities but still remain possible. When you set an achievable goal, you may be able to identify previously overlooked opportunities or resources that can bring you closer to it. An achievable goal will usually answer questions such as: Example You might need to ask yourself whether developing the skills required to become head of marketing is realistic, based on your existing experience and qualifications. For example, do you have the time to complete the required training effectively? Are the necessary resources available to you? Can you afford to do it? Tip: Beware setting goals that someone else has power over. For example, “Get that promotion!” depends on who else applies, and on the recruiter’s decision. But “Get the experience and training that I need to be considered for that promotion” is entirely down to you. 4. Relevant This step is about ensuring that your goal matters to you, and that it also aligns with other relevant goals. We all need support and assistance in achieving our goals, but it’s important to retain control over them. So, make sure that your plans drive everyone forward, but that you’re still responsible for achieving your own goal. A relevant goal can answer “yes” to these questions: Example You might want to gain the skills to become head of marketing within your organization, but is it the right time to undertake the required training, or work toward additional qualifications? Are you sure that you’re the right person for the head of marketing role? Have you considered your spouse’s goals? For example, if you want to start a family, would completing training in your free time make this more difficult? 5. Time-bound Every goal needs a target date, so that you have a deadline to focus on and something to work toward. This part of the SMART goal criteria helps to prevent everyday tasks from taking priority over your longer-term goals. A time-bound goal will usually answer these questions: Example Gaining the skills to become head of marketing may require additional training or experience, as we mentioned earlier. How long will it take you to acquire these skills? Do you need further training, so that you’re eligible for certain exams or qualifications? It’s important to give yourself a realistic time frame for accomplishing the smaller goals that are necessary to achieving your final objective. So, if you aren’t using SMART goals in your planning process, now is the time to start! For a little extra guidance on better goal setting, check out this email course, or consider talking with a coach.

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3 Reasons Your First Step Is Essential for Success

Leadership, Mindset, Startup Basics, With Audio / Drew

”A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.” – Tony Robbins. For some reason, many people believe they can simply coast through life and still end up successful. They envision success, maybe even meditate on it, but never take the necessary action to reach the next level. It’s probably the reason why many people fall for get-rich-quick scams. Imagine doing minimal work and raking in bags of cash in return! If you really want to succeed, you’re going to have to put in a lot of time and effort to make it work. You will need to take action, consistent and focused action. Here are 3 reasons why taking action is important if you want to succeed: 1. It’s your first step towards success If you don’t take any action, you’re never going to take that first step towards achieving your goals. You’re never going to go anywhere. As they say, it’s always the first step that’s the hardest…but it’s also the most important. It’s relatively easy to choose the right goal and to make a grand plan on how you’re going to achieve that goal. But actually going out there and taking that first step, is when that plan actually begins. Many people have fun at the planning stage, but the moment they actually need to do something, then the reality will sink in. “That’s a lot of work,” they’ll say. They’ll start procrastinating, or they’ll start thinking it’s a bad idea. Maybe the limiting beliefs set in and you think that you will do it wrong, or that nobody will respond to you, or that you could even end up in a worse position than you’re in now…And they’ll just stop there. That’s all they do – just plan things, but never really take action out of fear or discomfort. 2. No amount of prep or knowledge compares with first-hand experience. When you take action, you will find out that whatever you’ve planned isn’t always going to happen the way you imagined. It isn’t always going to be feasible even. Sometimes, what you think something is may be different from what it actually is in reality; but you’ll never know until you get started. This is why being flexible and knowing when to adjust is so important. Your plan, no matter how long you spent on it, is still just a general guide – you don’t have to take it at face value – and probably shouldn’t. When you take action and go out into the real world, you find out what’s working and what’s not. You will improve your ability to go with the flow. You will learn there’s almost always another option out there that will help you achieve your goals faster, more efficiently, or with less stress than what you initially anticipated! But, with consistent and dedicated action, you are guaranteed to put yourself in a better place than you are in now, even if you fail first. 3. You will grow as a person Taking action is important if you also want to grow as a person. On the way to success, you’ll encounter so many obstacles, glitches, and challenges. Those are the opportune times to grow as a person. When you learn how to overcome all these obstacles: you gain new skills, you develop resilience, you become more patient, you develop a new level of self-awareness, and you grow as a person. If you don’t take action, you’ll remain as you always have been, doing the same things you’ve always been doing, thinking the same thoughts, and feeling the same feelings. So, what are you waiting for? Take the first step!

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You are NOT perfect...Just the way you are

You Are Not Perfect the Way You Are

Leadership, Mindset, With Audio / Drew

There are more than enough songs telling us we’re perfect just the way we are. There are also many self-help books telling us that there’s really nothing to change. Lastly, we’ll find no shortage of motivational speakers or “coaches” who tell us, “You are perfect just as you are.” But, we need to set all that aside. In fact, if I wasn’t being polite I would call them lies because that’s what they are. They are actually doing you a disservice because the more you believe in that, the more you wall yourself off from meaningful change in your life. I’ve got some news for you. The only constant in life is change. That’s the only thing you can rely on occurring regardless of your actions beliefs or choices. It’s true right now and it will continue to be true long into the future. It’s a good thing change is the only constant in life because, with change, we can continue to grow and improve. Change is actually a promise for better. It doesn’t matter how small you feel, how defeated you think you are, or how incompetent, ugly, and desperate things may seem to you. With change, you can turn things around to create a situation you are happy, proud, and confident about. Life would be so boring without change! I once met a homeless man on the streets of Worcester, MA while I was the broker for an apartment rental agency and he said something that really blew my mind. He would come in for a cup of coffee or to use the restroom when the office was quiet. Occasionally, I would buy him or others lunch. Those conversations gave me an enlightening new perspective. He was a guy who just had newspapers as his bed and lived a block or two away from my office. He used to say, “This too will pass.” I looked at him. I looked at the situation and looked at how desperate things seemed for him. It didn’t take long for my analytical mind and questioning ways to arrive at the same conclusion. This too will pass… There I was wearing an impeccable shirt, a nice silk tie, and yes, I was incredibly connected to that homeless person. This was the truth that connects all of us. What we think our reality is will always pass because of time and change. Instead of looking at life as something that’s scary, or something we have to run away from, it’s there for us to learn to work with. Easier said than done though, right? How do we just change our perspective like that? What’s the best way to make a change?How do we make the deep and profound reality of change work for us instead of against us? Well, it all boils down to perspective and expectations. Choose your thoughts carefully because when you assume that you’re perfect you cannot deny that change always happens. Change is kind of like a fire. We can’t intimidate it or deny it’s existence. It will continue raging. burning. and marching forward. It doesn’t care if you acknowledge it or not. Sadly, when you think you’re perfect the way you are, you end up getting burned by change. This doesn’t just happen once. It will happen again and again and again until you learn that lesson. What lesson am I talking about? First, if you are assuming you’re perfect it means you’re less likely to want to learn or grow or adapt. I don’t care how smart you are. I don’t care how well you have it together. You need to keep updating your knowledge, skills, perspective and awareness. Otherwise, you will get left behind. Living in the Internet Age is both a blessing and a curse. Information is more readily available, but it also spoils quickly…Take the case of sales and sales training. You may have been at the top of the sales game ten years ago. But sales strategies from 10 years ago will only get you reported or ignored by people today. Unfortunately, if you think you’re perfect, you already know everything. It prevents you from learning what you need to learn to level-up. Assuming you’re perfect also means you’re less likely to want to adapt. Think of it like dodge ball. The world is chaotic and throws many dodge balls at us. We need to move, we need to be quick on our feet. But, to assume that you’re perfect means that you’re just going to stand still and get hit with one ball after another. Soon enough, you’re bruised all over the place and you are lying flat on your back, exhausted, rundown, and feeling stuck. It’s not a happy ending. Assuming you’re perfect also means you’re likely to blame others instead of taking any responsibility yourself. “They’re imperfect. It’s not my problem. I’m perfect.” Do you see the backwards logic of that? It’s sad on so many levels. Most of all, it’s sad because when you blame other people, you give them power over your happiness, your success, and your life. How so? Well, if they’re the one who caused the problem, typically this means they are also the only one with the solution. It’s time for a reality check! It can be hard enough controlling oneself. Can you imagine trying to control other people too? Forget about it. If Bruce Almighty taught me anything – it’s that you can’t influence free will, no matter how powerful you think you are. Life can be rough. It’s chaotic out there. But, the good news is that despite all this imperfection, there is beauty. There are sublime truths. There is profound peace and prosperity to attain, but you may need struggle for it. You should uncover it. You should work for it. You’re not perfect, none of us are. Life isn’t about being perfect – it’s about being real. By accepting your imperfections and never failing to adapt, learn, or grow…you’re setting

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Drop The Past: It Doesn’t Deserve Time In Your Future

Leadership, Management, Mindset, With Audio / Drew

Your past doesn’t define you. I can’t even tell you how many people I come across who say, “I’m a failure”. “I don’t have it”. “This suck”. Life sucks. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. Every single year, I get poor. I’m stuck. These people are not low IQ individuals, per se. They’re not ugly. There’s nothing in their personality that makes them inferior. It’s their attitude that dooms them to a life of mediocrity, struggle, and frustration. If you’re reading this article, chances are you’ve felt these things. Maybe you’re feeling that your life follows a pattern where one day is basically the same as the day before it. Like Groundhog Day with Bill Murray (great movie by the way). There’s really not much change in your life. Before you know it, you feel that you’re stuck in a rut that you call life – and there’s no escaping. It’s as if the script keeps playing over and over. It’s the same boring old movie again and again. Same movie, different day. All arriving at the same the conclusion – death. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I know it sounds kind of extreme, and depressing. It’s definitely discouraging. But, I want you to understand where that mindset leads to. And this definitely doesn’t lead us to a happy place. If there was any doubt before, now you have the answer. People who screw up in the past think it seals the rest of their life. Your past doesn’t define you. This world would be a vastly different place if that were the case. No matter how bad you screwed up in the past, it doesn’t have to hold you back unless you let it. When you keep repeating scenes in your head of being rejected, humiliated, embarrassed, betrayed or oppressed. Your subconscious will attempt to bring that into existence. Plus you are feeling all of the emotions as if you were living through it live. Finally this causes you to vibrate at a lower frequency, attracting more of the same. What do you think happens when you repeat this behavior? Your past doesn’t define you. Do you think you can change the material fact of what happened in the past? No. It’s not like the movie Back to the Future and you’ve got a flying DeLorean that you can jump into with Marty McFly. It doesn’t work that way. What happened in the past happened. What you can change is your interpretation. Your past doesn’t define you. You can change its effect on you in the here and now. Claim your power. This is key to external change, which is affecting what is happening for you right now, your appearance, your work, your business, the amount of money in your bank account, or how big your house or apartment is. All across the board is an internal change. Change your relationship with your past and you can change your future. Does your past condemn you? Does it make you feel small, weak, and powerless? Well, you can change how you interpret your past. Internal changes mean changing your thought patterns, assumptions, beliefs, and emotional habits. It’s perfectly true that the world doesn’t care about your feelings, it cares about your actions. It aims at results. Where do you think those results come from? It comes from your thoughts. When you think about your situation in a certain way; you end up in an empowered emotional state. In that new emotional state, you ask smarter questions and make corresponding decisions. When you make those decisions, you change your present and future with your actions. What if you can change your thoughts? What if you can change your assumptions about your past? Your life doesn’t have to feel like a runaway roller coaster where the moment you think about something negative, everything has to end up with a negative implication again and again and again. It doesn’t have to be that way. Please understand that you are always in control because you can always choose how you interpret things. You can always choose what you think about. You can always choose what you do or do not dwell on. Do not let go of that power. That would be the height of irresponsibility and I hate to say this because when I first realized this, it was when somebody said it, and it stung a little bit. That was precisely the point things changed though because at that point I grew. Whatever is happening in your life, you’re doing to yourself. You really are. I know it doesn’t make much sense. Who wants to intentionally live a frustrated or unfulfilled life? Who wants to feel this pain? Take responsibility. You can do it. Change creates change. Your past doesn’t define you. Reacting the same way to past situations will only keep you bound to the lesson and stuck in the same karmic loop. When you are presented with the same situations over and over, you have to do something different. You are being presented with two choices, evolve or repeat. ~Wishing you success!

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The First Thing You Need To Do To Become More Successful

Leadership, Management, Mindset / Drew

What is the first thing you need to do to become more successful? If you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking, “Okay, I will buy a book or I will sign up for some course.” Other people might think they have to find the right guru or mentor to help them achieve success. Those are important but you’re putting the cart before the horse if that’s your line of thought. There’s something more fundamental you need to do. There’s something more basic you need to attend to first. What am I talking about? I’m talking about beliefs. Pay attention to your mental inventory because until and unless you believe you can change, nothing will happen in your life. This is a powerful form of belief. This is the most important ingredient in the process of changing your results. You’re trying to become more successful, aren’t you? Obviously, if you’re not happy with the results you’re getting. There is the simple matter of changing your results. You want to be more successful but, you don’t automatically assume that you can change. Learn to embrace the possibility of change. Recognize its full features. Stare it in the eyes and let it in. Absorb it. Most people don’t go through this. They subconsciously assume that they can’t change. What happens? They buy book after book, sign up for course after course, take many steps, and end up with a lot of nothing. Why? They built their empire of change on a faulty foundation. It did not occur to them. Change cannot take place unless one truly believes that things could change. Did they truly believe they were worthy of success? No, they didn’t believe they had full authority and ownership of every aspect of their lives. Please understand that you should believe you can change because it is the key that turns the lock of that mental prison you’re in. You’re not locked in the past. Instead, the self-fulfilling prophecies playing out in your subconscious paralyze you and that becomes your future. You should analyze what you’re thinking and what you believe about yourself. If your beliefs are not completely in line with the reality that you want to produce, then you are wasting your time. What do you need to believe to become more successful? Start by believing you can change. Believing you can change means you can effect change all across your life by creating a change on the inside. This means greater power over your circumstances, greater power over your life, and greater power over your opportunities. Say to yourself, “I can change.” Now, repeat it again and again. After you’ve done that, I want you to come up with three solid examples when you decided to make a change. Most people can do this fairly easily because we are highly capable of change. If you want something basic, look at how you learned to ride a bicycle or drive a car. That is change. Why? Because at a certain point in time in your life’s history you did not know how to ride a bicycle, or drive a car. Then you decided that you wanted to learn, and believed that it was within your reach, then you made it happen. Find that point where you switched from not knowing how to ride a bicycle to one who can ride a bicycle. Look for these monumental changes in your life. It doesn’t have to be big. You don’t have to be a hero. It doesn’t have to be overly grand or dramatic but once you base it on the truth of how you’ve changed in the past, it reinforces the means that you can change now. Are you ready to change? If you’re ready to take the next step in your life or business. If you’re ready to stop feeling stuck, insecure, anxious, not good enough, or any other self-deprecating belief…then check out this free email course, or consider signing up with a coach. In this journey with Drew Kairos, you will get access and learn mental frameworks, mind shifts, and powerful successful training needed to unleash a world-class, enlightened, high-impact, abundant, successful entrepreneur. ~Wishing you success!

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Successful People Aim To Fail Quickly

Leadership, Management, Mindset, strategy / Drew

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Why in the world would somebody want to fail quickly?” You may have read the article title and did a double take….“Isn’t failure something we’re supposed to avoid?” “Isn’t it something we’re supposed to run away from?” “Isn’t it a mark of embarrassment or even humiliation?” Why in the world would successful people, of all people, aim to fail quickly? You should understand that successful people know failure is always a possibility. So, they don’t candy-coat it, try to avoid it, or make up excuses for it. They also don’t try to cover it up with rationalizations, excuses, or justifications. Instead, they look it straight in the eye and address it. Failure is inevitable, suffering is options. Maybe, it’s monetary…or maybe, it’s social like a loss of reputation. Whatever the case may be, failure conventionally means pain and/or suffering. Successful people realize that failure is inevitable so they look at what they stand to gain. They do a calculated risk-benefit analysis and if the analysis comes out right, and the project is worth taking on, they still keep looking at the possibility of failure to motivate them. These people know the difference between wanting to fail and getting ready for setbacks. Their mindset shifts to failing quickly. They want to know if this will not pan out. I want this to flame out quickly so I can pick myself up, dust myself off, and go on to the next opportunity. Quick failure means quick lessons. Don’t look at it as a judgment on your character as a human being. It is not some summation of your value as a person, nor does it define you. Instead, you learn what you need to learn like Thomas Edison who once used a hair from a man’s beard in his efforts to invent the light bulb. Obviously, that did not pan out, but that didn’t stop Edison from trying many times. You need to fail quickly so you can quickly determine that the road you’re on is not the right road. You can then shift to another road and then try the next one. Quick lessons mean a faster track to eventual success. That’s how successful people think. On the contrary, people who struggle for the rest of their lives experience failure and look at failure as something that defines them. What did they do wrong? They dwelled on it. Instead of a quick failure that yields important quick lessons, they dwell on the failure and the lessons they get are worse lessons because it’s all about them. They create stories in their head about things like: They’re not thinking intelligently They don’t have enough money People don’t like them. They can’t get ahead. They don’t have enough time to get things done. They’re trapped in their life with all these ‘toxic’ lessons Fail quickly and get the lesson quickly. Learn from it and apply this knowledge moving forward. This enables you to minimize the cost and the pain. Suffering will always be a part of the equation but it doesn’t mean that you have to maximize it. It doesn’t mean that you have to let it burn you and define you as a person. When you do that, you are only making success more elusive. In today’s business environment, where things are changing constantly, speed of execution is a lot more important than perfect execution. While you’re trying to perfect a certain solution or product, the situation might change, rendering your product or solution irrelevant. Make it “good enough,” publish it, improve it based on market feedback, rinse and repeat. This approach creates success much faster. By failing, we are learning. By learning, I mean we see how best to adapt to the environment and respond by adjusting our behavior incrementally but continually. This helps build momentum internally and externally. This also creates better quality solutions over time. If you’re holding on to an idea, product, service, in fear of rejection or failure – what are you waiting for? ~Wishing you success!

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How A Fear Of Failure Manifests More Failure

Leadership, Management, Mindset, Startup Basics, strategy / Drew

Did you know failure is your friend? Depending on where you’re at in your life, you may either be laughing out loud or cringing. You may even have this almost irresistible urge to close this article and move on to more interesting things. Well, hear me out. Most people are afraid of failure. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that out. This is part of the human condition. We are drawn to pleasure and we recoil from pain and discomfort. We would love the big mansions, the swimming pools, the global vacations every two months, and the tons of money in the bank, but we hate or we try to avoid putting in day-after-day of seemingly meaningless work. Try to avoid meeting the very difficult people that can lead to great deals because it’s painful to deal with them. We would like to get the reward without going through the painful process. I understand that since that’s part of human nature. This is why we’re afraid of failure because we know it guarantees nothing. We can put in the work, the time, the effort and make all the sacrifices and at the end of that process, there’s nothing there. You’re left holding an empty bag. The truth is you’re already failing right now if you’re not shooting for your goals and dreams. You really are failing because every day you spend being paralyzed by fear of failure is a day not spent working towards success. Fear of failure can paralyze you or make you do things the wrong way. The worst thing you can do is to put things off and wait for the ‘right time’ to happen because that perfect time never comes, right? Stop waiting for tomorrow because tomorrow will never come. There will be many duties, responsibilities, and obligations that will pop up all over the place that will distract you. They will throw you off track. You can bet on that. Fear of failure can also make you hesitate and doubt yourself. Doubt is an emotional cancer in certain contexts. It can burn away at you. The worst part is it builds slowly until it explodes, usually at the moment you least expect it, and you end up crashing and burning. Don’t doubt your capabilities. Challenge yourself but don’t doubt. The ultimate truth about you is that you can do it if you put in the time, effort, and sacrifice and choose the right goals. Unfortunately, if you’re so deathly afraid of failure, you won’t go through the learning process. It’s painful to constantly think about failure, or failing, or not being good enough, or not having enough time, or whatever other excuse or limiting belief you can come up with. That’s why you’re not trying anything new – you think you’re avoiding failure. You don’t even give yourself the chance to succeed or fail. Successful People Think Differently We all want to be successful, but sometimes the fear of failure prevents us from trying new things. Failure is a necessary component on the way to success. If you’re not failing, then chances are you’re just sitting around doing nothing. Successful people don’t fear failure. Believe it or not, successful people know failure is always a possibility. But they make it work for them. They view failure as the price they pay to learn and grow. If you want a good example of this, pay attention to that quote from Thomas Edison. He said, “I didn’t fail to invent the light bulb. I discovered 101 ways of not inventing light bulbs.” Do you see the logic in that? Failure is the price you pay as you learn. You can use it as a steppingstone to the ultimate success or you can use it as a gravestone to all your hopes, wishes, dreams, and ambitions. The truth is successful people view failure as a necessity. Failure is not the opposite of success – instead, it’s part of the process.

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Author name: Drew