ROFL Return On Failure Learning

Better get used to the idea, whether in business or in your personal life, sometimes you are gonna find yourself in the middle of a huge snafu and guess what? It’s your fault.

Yep. You walked right into it, eyes wide open, and now you look at what you’ve done and are thinking to yourself

How could it have possibly come to this?

Regardless of who you are, invariably you will be standing in the mirror, looking at a failure.

Don’t think you’re the only one; plenty have tried and failed, including names you might recognize today, like Elizabeth Arden, The Beatles, Jack Canfield, Mark Cuban, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, Lady Gaga, Bill Gates, Milton Hershey, Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan, Mary Kay, Stephen King, Madonna, J.K. Rowling, Colonel Sanders, Charles Schultz, Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, and even Oprah Winfrey (just to name a few).

The question isn’t whether you have failed or not, the question is

What are you gonna do about it now?

Sure, you could feel unworthy, sorry for yourself (actually this is part of the healing process), let your fear of failure overcome you and swear never to take another chance again, or you can examine where you are, dig deep within, take an honest look at the data, discern how you got here and

Embrace the Learning

ROFL what do you and famous celebrity failures have in common return on failure learning

ROFL Return On Failure Learning

Long before ROFL was reduced to a silly text acronym, not far behind its shirt-tailed cousin ROI (Return On Investment) ROFL adequately exemplified the attitude of creative and powerful individuals (such as the aforementioned celebrities) who would not respond to failure like a “normal” person.

No, they did not roll over and frigging leave, they sought to gain a Return On Failure: Learning.

These extraordinary individuals stood face-to-face with their inner demons and against all odds, harnessed the lessons gleaned from their negative experiences and forged forward with the determination to try again; this time wiser and better prepared.

And many of them did not succeed on the third or fourth try. After every successive failure, they emerged even more determined, wiser and better equipped to overcome obstacles that would rear their ugly heads while they continued to push forward to success.

This is the key component of the extraordinary individual

You are also an extraordinary individual

There is no doubt that there exists no one with your particular strengths, gifts, abilities and unique message to share with the community and the world, a world where anything is possible.

The only difference between you and Oprah
(or any of the other individuals cited previously)
is how you respond to the F-word.

Look at failure as earning (and possibly paying handsomely for) your Masters Degree in what not to do. Armed with this knowledge, you have an expertise you’d never been able to attain without the completion of this course. It was hard, no doubt. It was painful, full of long hours and sleepless nights, but you finished the course.

Yes, it’s acceptable to take time to reflect and recuperate before taking your next foray into your subsequent project or emerging incarnation of your self, but it is necessary for you to be the extraordinary person you were born to be.

See every failure as an investment in your further education and look for the

Return On Failure Learning (ROFL)

One day, you might just look back at this failure rolling on the floor laughing (just saying).

You are extraordinary

Unleash your inner Oprah

or other failure from the celebrity list (above).

Fear of Failure

I work with people every day (and have every day of my adult life) who second-guess themselves. Even you, reading these words right now; you have a dream… Something you want so bad you can taste it… but something keeps you from reaching out to grab what is already yours.

Fear of failure

I can tell you, right now, the only thing that is holding you back is fear of failure (atychiphobia). Fear of failure is the reason that most people (19 out of 20) do not pursue what is rightfully theirs.

Why do I boldly say, “what is rightfully yours?” Because Thought is Precognitive. That is to say, if you have the idea, you have the right to see its fulfillment; if you can overcome your fear and take action.

Certainly there are many methods to overcome fear and build courage, just as Uncle Albert (Einstein) is quoted as saying, “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” Which means that you must be willing and able to do what needs to be done, even if it’s not perfect or may fail altogether, to get what you want.

You learn far more from a strikeout than a home run. Innovation (doing something that has never been done before) comes from trying something in a way that might not work (so, there is some element of risk).

You must be willing to

#1 Take Action

and to do so, even if it means that you must

#2 Be Willing to Fail

Here are some things that can help to bridge the gap between the fear and the satisfaction that comes from doing the very thing that once intimidated you.

Visualize

Just like Edison’s light bulb (he saw it in his mind’s eye as being already completed) and after many attempts (1,000) the light bulb became a reality. You must visualize before you materialize. So, make a vision board, and utilize the gift of your imagination to see it in its completion, as if it is already done.

Dig Down

Sometimes its good to spend some time introspectively to see if you can uncover those things that exist inside of you that may be impeding your progress. Keep in mind, the deeper you dig, you could discover programming that goes all the way back to your earliest childhood. When you uncover these nasty weeds that are choking out your potential harvest, pull them out – roots and all. You may realize, when you find them, that they were silly in the first place, yet served their purpose to give you a sense of safety and security in those formulative years.

Create a Map

Make a map delineating where you are and where you want to be (your completed goal). Make sure to note all the towns you must go through (smaller goals or milestones between here and there) on the way to your destination. The more mile markers you can pass between here and there, the closer you are to what you want.

Remove the Fear

If you’re still feeling the fear, embrace it, then eliminate its emotional impact. Using your imagination, increase your fear, hesitation and anxiety to as high a level as you possibly can, then use the Penny for Your Thoughts routine to remove the emotional component.

What if I Fail?

Fail Forward

Stop looking at “failure” as failures. Look at them as stepping-stones, but give them all the honor and value they deserve. For instance, ask yourself these questions:

#1 What was the blessing?

Sometimes the interruption of your progress, changes your direction to something far better, other times (though you may only realize it later) you were able to circumvent a potential catastrophe. See the blessing.

#2 What did I learn?

You can learn far more from a failed attempt than a wildly successful endeavor that comes easily. Look for the Return On Failure. What were the (sometimes hidden) secrets that you now possess, having not succeeded in the manner that you anticipated?

#3 How can I do it better?

Armed with the knowledge of potential pitfalls (due to your own personal experience) what can you do the next go-round to make sure that the same outcome does not repeat itself.

Sometimes people ask me what I am afraid of? Regardless, I push-through to

Be Willing to Make Mistakes

I like to say,

“I make mistakes but I don’t make the same one twice.
I make new ones.”

This creates the necessary momentum to keep moving forward.