Llse failures as springboards to success

By Daniel R. Castro

IIERHAPS your professional life I isn't going exactly like you thought it was supposed to go. Maybe you've made a series of bad decisions or even one really bad choice that you can't seem to bounce back from. Maybe you've been downsized or terminated. Maybe your best-laid plans have failed and circumstances beyond your control-from market downturns to bad weather to a key player's incompetence-have put you in the danger zone, or even out in the street.

You may not realize it right now, but you do have options. You could wallow in self-pity. or remain angry at those whom you blame for your current situation. Or you can turn your past disappointments into great accomplishments. How? Just follow the path of the heroes who've gone before you. They will show you how to transform past adversity and failures into springboards for success.

Tip No. I

Look at your past objectively.

Thomas Edison believed there were no such things as mistakes, only eliminated options that brought him one step closer to his goal. There is no such thing as "failure," he claimed, only lessons to be learned.

Most people find it difficult to see a failure in an analytical, impartial fashion; many of us were raised to believe that if we failed at something, we were failures. Therefore, as adults, we take failure personally, believing our lack of success indicates a lack in our character. Instead. we must look at the situation objectively, as a matter of cause and effect. The fact that we fail in business situations does not mean we are failures. but rather that we didn't create the right cause to achieve the desired effect.

If you find yourself in a stuck emotional state, go back and analyze the steps you took and see what you might have done differently. Logically, dispassionately examine the course you chose and determine why it did not yield the desired result. Acknowledge what you did that led to the failure and take responsibility for it. Take what you can learn from it and move on.

fip xo. z

Focus on the purpose on the other side of the pain.

Happiness does not come from the elimination of pain, but from the realization of your purpose. Keep reminding yourself why you are doing what you're doing. Even less lofty purposes, such as "I just work here to pay the rent and my car payment," can be transformed over time if you look at the higher purpose. Perhaps you will make useful future contacts.

To succeed, look at the higher goals you've set and determine their importance, then focus on what is meaningful to you, rather than on the things you hate about your job. If you develop and focus on a strong enough reason or purpose to keep going, you will succeed at each of the steps you take toward your goal. Without a sense of purpose, you will lack motivation and consciously or subconsciously doom yourself to failure.

fip No. 3

You can't see the whole parade from where you stand.

You never know from where you stand whether what you are experiencing will turn out to be good or bad until enough time has passed. A seemingly hopeless situation may be exactly the disaster you fear, but it may also turn from catastrophe into triumph in ways you are unable to predict.

When people get stuck in "Why me?" mode due to a severe business loss, they require a mindshift in order to recover a sense of belief, hope and inner strength so they can move on. If we can look outside of ourselves at others who have overcome adverse circumstances. we can gain the courage to believe in our ultimate success. In the LBM industry, who do you know or have heard of who failed but managed to get back on top?

Soichiro Honda persevered through countless failures and setbacks, over four decades. before his Honda Motor Co. became one of the world's largest automobile companies.

When we make a deliberate decision not to give up, life seems to present opportunities we hadn't thought of or couldn't create ourselves.

Tip No. +

It's not whether you've won or lost in the past; it's the person you become in order to win in the future.

After a business failure has led you to analyze the objective data of your experience, look within and ask, "What kind of person do I need to become in order to get what I want?"

To become that person, you may need additional education or training: you may need to hire a coach or find a mentor to guide you. Or you may require a character shift. in a sense to be reborn. Lance Armstrong had never won a Tour de France before he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Then it looked like his cycling career, and maybe even his life, were over. He fought back and won. Today he credits his great cycling success to the person he became as a result of having cancer. He says, "Cancer saved my life."

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Accept that falling is a normal part of life, but try to fall forward every

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Forks True Value Hardware & Lumber, Fork, Wa., said that six suspects have been charged and will be tried in federal court for a June 14 burglary of $3,@0 worth ofguns (see July, p.40)

Lowe's Cos. opened a 116,000sq. ft. store with attached garden center July 26 in Antioch, Ca., and received city council approval to build a 111,196-sq. ft. store on 10.74 acres in Sonora, Ca. ...

Lowe's expects new store openings in 4th quarter 2005 in Keizer, Or., and Martell, N. Stockton and Northridge, Ca., and in 2nd quarter 2OO6 in Ontario, Ca. ... the chain wants to co-anchor the first major retail center in Grand Terrace. Ca. ...

Home Depot opened new stores June 30 in Vista, Ca. (Louis Becerra, store mgr.; Lisa Garson, operations mgr.); Riverton, Ut.; S. Reno, Nv., and Sterling, Co.; June 16 in N. Upland, Ca., and June 9 in Gillette, Wy. .

Home Depot won approval to demolish a K-Mart and build a 102,513-sq. ft. store with 28,086sq. ft. garden center in Crescent City, Ca.; is one of several potential tenants that want to lease a former Wal-Mart site in Vallejo, Ca.; has expressed interest in a Wal-Mart site in Poulsbo. Wa.: will open by the end of 2006 in Palm Springs, Ca., and is negotiating to build a store in Coos Bay, Or. ...

Home Depot has acquired 16unit pro dealer Williams Brothers Lumber Co.. Athens. Ga.. and has agreed to buy Waco, Tx.-based National Waterworks Holdings Inc.,with more than 130 branches in 36 states

Ram Pipe & Supply, Yuma, Az., has been acquiredby Hughes Supply ...

Grainger opened a new fullsize branch with 2,500-sq. ft. showroom Aug. I in Culver City, Ca. (Ann Maras, branch mgr.) ...

Gambles True Value, Socorro, N.M., was presented the Business of the Year Award by the local Chamber of Commerce lUnorrslrrns/tlruncrur:rs

Murphy P lywood, Sutherlin, Or., lost its mill in a July 5 fire caused by a motor in one of its veneer dryers; damage is estimated at $40 million ...

Weyerhaeuser Co. has put its Vaughn, Or., glulam plant up for sale ... its Springfield, Or., plywood mill has discontinued peeling veneer and has added another shift to lay up plywood

Colville Indian Precision Pine, Omak. Wa., has installed a Stetson-Ross planer ...

Mountain Fir Lumber Co., Independence, Or., suffered a July 8 fire that caused $10.000 to $15,000 in damage to a woodchipper chute

U.S. Department of Commerce, maintaining its contention that Canadian softwood lumber is subsidized, continues collecting 20.2Vo duty deposits at the border, but has reduced the countervailins duty rate to l.2l%o

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Jeld-Wen, Klamath Falls, Or., this month will eliminate 75 jobs-about half the workforceat its Everett, Wa., door plant, which recently installed new tooling equipment

Longview Fibre Co., Seattle, Wa., approved a corporate restructuring to qualify as a Real Estate Investment Trust, effective Jan. l, 2006: it will continue to own and manage its 585,000 acres of timberlands and transfer its manufacturing operations into a whollyowned subsidiary ...

Hancock Timber Resource Group acquired Prudential Financial's timberland investment unit, including 20,000 acres in Hawaii, 235,000 acres in the South,45,000 acres in Brazil, and 150,000 acres in New Zealand

James Hardie agreed to sell its Chile Fiber Cement business to Compania Industrial El Volcan S.A. for $15.8 million

Square D agreed to buy Juno Lighting

TimberTech's 5/4 plank profile and ornamental railing system and Xccent Deckingt vinyl-coated steel decking system were ICC certified...

Louisiana- P acific's SmartSide siding Web site (www.lpsmartside.com) received the Best Retail Online campaign award from the Web Marketing Association

Pacific American Lumber, Honolulu. Hi.. is now authorized to distribute Staron solid surface products throughout Hawaii

Housing starts in June (latest figures) held steady at an annual rate of 2.004 million ... sinsle family starts fell 2.5Vo,but multifamily rose nearly I5Vo regionally, starts in the West fell L0.4Vo ... permits rose 2.4Vo.