Overcome Failure Like A Champion

"Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street."

--Zig Ziglar

We tend to get so upset when we fail. That word, "fail" swells and pulsates like a headache. We repeat it. "I failed. I failed. I'm a failure". The emotion builds from the story we're telling ourselves. "I didn't get the job I wanted. What does it mean about me? What will my friends think? What will my family think? Oh God! The shame!"

KNOCK IT OFF!!!!

You are not a failure!

This "failure" you speak of is only a teeny tiny bitty smudge on the canvas of your entire life. So, have some faith. Stop crying! This failure you cry about could just be a blessing in disguise. Learn to have faith in a process that's bigger than you. Trust that life is going to provide you with a better opportunity. So keep working, keep going, and keep improving and developing yourself! You are not a failure! ...unless you want to be.

Today, go out and take some positive action. Make a list of 3 things you learned from the experience. (Make it 5 or 10 if you can). Ask yourself what you can do to improve. Don't smash yourself in the head with your findings, instead use them for reflection. Use them like a scientist learns from experiments. The Wright Brothers didn't fly the first time they tried.

Then write a list of 3 things that you do well. WRITE IT! DO IT NOW!

Write 3 things that make you a good prospect for any job! Are you tall? Good looking? Do you have nice posture? Count these kinds of things too, for they are very big determinants in the hiring process.

Are you smart? Can you communicate well? Write down three things. (4, 5, or 6 if you can think of them). Write them now. Use these things to inspire yourself.

Instead of thinking "failure", and telling yourself stories about "I'm such a loser," start telling yourself a new story. Tell yourself that this is the beginning of a new adventure. Tell yourself that that stupid company will one day regret their decision. Decide to get positive revenge! Go out and bust your ass to get an even better job. Prove them wrong!

If you're really feeling pity, really feeling sad, then okay. Take time to feel sad. Set the timer on your watch. Sit down and feel sorry for yourself for 15 minutes. 20 minutes. 30 minutes. Really give yourself time to do that. Then, when the bell rings, stand up and take action!

If you won't write, then choose to change the thought from the word "failure" to something else. Instead, think power words! Think POWER. Think STRENGTH. Think CAN. Think FIGHT!

Bottom line, don't let that emotionally laden word (failure) paint dark ugly pictures in your brain. Failure is a learning opportunity. Without experiencing failure you wouldn't be human. Learn from the experience, then let it go. The water in the river of that moment has passed under the bridge. It's gone. It's done. Now move on!

Let me leave you with a quote from Samuel Smiles:

"We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what we will do, by finding out what we will not do."
--Samuel Smiles

All for today, Job Warriors! Keep up the fight!

Michael Jay....OUT!