Put Failure in Its Place with the 3 P’s

Every person on the road to success leaves a trail of failures behind him.

• Michael Jordan was cut from the varsity basketball team during his sophomore year in high school.
• Katie Couric was not allowed to read news on-air at CNN because an executive thought her voice was too high-pitched and squeaky.
• Steven Spielberg’s mediocre grades prevented him from getting accepted into the film schools at UCLA and USC.
• The Beatles were rejected by five record labels in 1962.
• Walt Disney’s first cartoon production company went bankrupt.

What does it take to rise above a particular incidence of failure and not let it paralyze us? Everyone experiences failures. Looking at the failures of famous people reinforces the importance of the three P’s:

1. Persistence: Successful individuals do not let a failure derail them from reaching their goals, instead viewing failure as an opportunity to learn or refine. The inventor Thomas Edison tested over 3,000 filaments in his search for his practical version of the incandescent light bulb, and later tested over 17,000 different plant species on his way to discovering a new synthetic rubber.
2. Perspective: Take the long view. All of our efforts occur in the context of a much longer timeline of life, with a failure as just a point. It helps to cultivate a broad perspective to keep disappointments from being overwhelming.
3. Positive Self-talk: The lovely children’s story, “The Little Engine That Could”, provides a simple example of this, with its refrain of: “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” Berating or belittling your efforts will never get you up the hill. In fact, too frequently people allow a loss to prevent them from attempting anything new because of our fear of failing again. Learn to look at the glass as half-full rather than half-empty.

Henry Ford, automobile company founder, sums it up: “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”