Failure Sucks: A Personal Experience
In this episode of the Family Before Fortune Podcast we look at failure. Many greats have failed and triumphed in the face of setbacks. In this episode we look at nine ways we can overcome failure and fight our way to success.
[callout]This episode originally appeared on the Family Before Fortune Podcast which is now the Modern Leadership Podcast. To listen to Modern Leadership click here. To see the Family Before Fortune Podcast archive click here.[/callout]
On my bookshelf:
Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World– by Matthew Bishop and Michael Green
Interesting online webtool:
Waybackmachine.org – 456 Billion webpages- saved over time
Main topic:
Examples of triumph over failure:
- Steve Jobs fired from Apple
- Abraham Lincoln- nervous Breakdown
- Milton Hershey started three candy companies before Hershey’s.
- Walt Disney was told he lacked creativity. One of the most creative geniuses of the 20th century was once fired from a newspaper because he was told he lacked creativity.
- George Steinbrenner bankrupted a team.Before Steinbrenner made a name for himself when he acquired ownership of the New York Yankees, he owned a small basketball team called the Cleveland Pipers back in 1960. By 1962, as a result of Steinbrenner’s direction, the entire franchise went bankrupt.
- Winston Churchill: This Nobel Prize-winning, twice-elected Prime Minster of the United Kingdom wasn’t always as well regarded as he is today. Churchill struggled in school and failed the sixth grade. After school he faced many years of political failures, as he was defeated in every election for public office until he finally became the Prime Minister at the ripe old age of 62.
- Harrison Ford: In his first film, Ford was told by the movie execs that he simply didn’t have what it takes to be a star.
- Theodor Seuss Giesel: Today nearly every child has read The Cat in the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham, yet 27 different publishers rejected Dr. Seuss’s first book To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.
What did they do and what can we do to overcome failure?
- Accept mistakes- Take personal responsibility.
- Let go of factors outside our control
- Recognize it is common
- Let out your frustrations
- Revisit failures – learn, grow improve
- Intentionally increase your failure rate
- Don’t let failure break you- let it build you
- Setbacks pave the way for a comeback
- Stay focused- you are going to get another chance
Quote of the week: “When a man has put a limit on what he will do, he has put a limit on what he can do.” – Charles Schwab
