THE SECRET OF FAILURE By: Samuel Rosenberg
Thomas Edison invented the electric lightbulb as we know it today. He famously said “I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” He was dyslexic, mostly deaf and completed just three months of formal education before being forced out of school at the age of seven due to his demanding behaviour. He is not alone in finding success through failure. Almost every successful person will tell you the importance of a failed business idea, during their career. While some business people have been extremely lucky and never suffered a failure, they may not know why they are as successful as they appear. Many business people suggest that they learn more from their failures than their successes. When you make a mistake, you learn how to overcome it and certainly try never to repeat the mistake in the future. There is a human instinct within all of us to get up and move. When interviewed, business people can easily provide you with many secrets of failure. They will tell you it is impossible to remain positive all day long, with no particular reason in mind.
concentrate on success. Whatever happens in the past is there for you to analyse, but it is better for you to move on and leave the past behind you. Once you understand the successes of failure it is easier to grasp and manage the secrets of success. You can adapt to changes in your family, life and environment. It is how you adapt that is important. Sir Richard Branson, owner of airlines and record companies, flies balloons across the Atlantic and is set to be leading the first company to take commercial flights to the moon and back. Ask him about Virgin Cola and a dozen or so other companies that have failed for him and he will tell you that you have to go through the lessons of failures to succeed. Almost everyone would consider Sir Richard as an incredibly successful person. He is entitled to these words on the subject: “I’ve been failing for as long as I can remember. In fact, I’ve been failing even longer than that – I fell over many times as a baby before learning how to walk. The pattern has continued into adulthood and my life as an entrepreneur, and I have learned and loved every step of the way.” •
They will also suggest that if you continue to discuss your business and life’s objectives with negative people, friends and family, you may never start your life as an entrepreneur. Should you choose to accept advice from unsuccessful people, unless they are listing their mistakes, you will be better off learning more from successful individuals. You will almost certainly not achieve the success you demand if you stay in a business or personal relationship where you are almost always unhappy and completely stressed. When you ask other people for their opinion, it is better to choose from those whose opinion you respect. You may not always receive constructive suggestions, but you will reduce the amount of negativity around you, which will help you BusinessFocus
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Samuel Rosenberg is the founder and CEO of Axcel Finance Ltd., the leading regional microfinance institution. Share your thoughts and email your questions to srosenberg@axcelfinance.com