When it comes to success, there are two types of people in the world: those who take ownership and those who don’t. The people who don’t take ownership become victims to their current realities. They struggle to see beyond the here and now. You might say those folks lack imagination. However, those who take ownership see their current realities as a temporary pitstops on the way to a better life. They have a vision for the life they aim to live, and they work towards that vision daily.
We all make mistakes. When we do, it is easy for those mistakes to steal attention and focus. We become fixated on them. We get stuck. We want to evaluate, analyze, and fix our mistakes right away. However, I argue that it is best to save analysis until later.
When emotions take over, it gets ugly. Golfers throw clubs. Football players back their teams up 15 yards. Basketball players swing elbows. If only everyone could keep cool.
“I’ll just do it myself.” Have you let that sentence pass your lips before? I know I have. Delegation can be a serious challenge for leaders. Often those in a leadership role got there by doing all things themselves and doing them with excellence. It can be hard to ease off the reins. However, for teams and businesses to grow, leaders must overcome their internal barriers and delegate.
“When achievers fail, they see it as a momentary event, not a lifelong epidemic,” stated John Maxwell in his book, Failing Forward. This is a mindset we desperately need in our culture today, whereas we see failure as akin to some kind of plague. Parents go to great lengths to protect their children from failure. Our education system forces teachers to do everything except lie to protect students from failing a class.
We easily forget the failures of many famous names: Abraham Lincoln, Michael Jordan, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs. These achievers didn’t let their failures define them and went on to great success. Are we dealing with failure all wrong? How can we capitalize on our failures to spur future success?
Frankl relays to us that we have the ability to choose our thoughts, our emotions and our actions.
