Make Your Own Luck

"Even a tortoise will arrive at its destination if it's moving."
(Isaac C. Mwiya)

http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/video/small-suburban-home-with-for-sale-sign-on-lawn-stock-video-footage/393-1

My husband's great Aunt Doris had an idea.  "Let's take a walk and go house hunting," she said to her husband, Uncle Ernst.  He did not want to budge, however.  As a German immigrant, he was trying to find work at Stelco, but to no avail.  But Doris persisted until Ernst finally relented.  They set out on their walk in downtown Hamilton and came upon Liberty Street.  As luck would have it, one of the houses was for sale.  The owner happened to be out front.  He and Uncle Ernst struck up a conversation.  It turned out he was quitting his job at Stelco and moving back to Scotland.  Ernst explained how he had been trying to get a job there but had no luck.  The Scottish man promised to put in the good word at Stelco for Ernst.  All he had to do was show up on Monday.  Sure enough, on Monday Ernst went to Stelco where he got a job.  He and Doris bought the house on Liberty Street.  

What would have happened if Ernst had have stayed on the couch that day?  They say that successful people make their own luck.  They don't wait for things to happen.  They make a decision and act.  Business Insider outlines five characteristics about good luck (http://www.businessinsider.com/how-rich-people-make-their-own-luck-2016-2):

1.  Luck hides outside comfort zones.

An open mind and a curious mind is more receptive to possibilities.  

2.  Luck hides inside positivity.

You must see opportunities in order to embrace them.  Problem solving requires creativity and insight.  "Positivity is the fertilizer in which good luck grows."

3.  Luck hides behind courage.

You must take risks.  'Courage is not the absence of fear but the pursuit of something while in the throes of it."  Cultivate the habit of taking educated risks.

4.  Luck hides inside new relationships.  

In order to meet the right person at the right time, you must go out and find him or her.

5.  Luck hides inside intuition.

Intuition is when your subconscious communicates with your conscious.  

http://jmcustomfitness.com/make-your-own-luck/

Embrace Failure Until You Succeed

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." (Thomas Edison)

• Einstein's teachers said he would "never amount to anything."
• Scientist John Gurdon was told by a teacher that it would be "ridiculous" for him to go into science.
• J. K. Rowling received 12 rejections for her Harry Potter manuscript before it was accepted.
• Basketball legend Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity basketball team.
• Walt Disney was fired from his job at the Kansas City Star due to "lack of creativity".
• The inventor of the Xerox (photocopier) machine was rejected 20 times.
• Peanuts creator Charles Schulz's cartoons were all rejected by his high school yearbook.
• Thomas Edison failed at least 1000 times when creating inventions.
• Colonel Sanders was rejected dozens of times for his fried chicken recipe.  He didn't sell one franchise until the age of 65 when he was on Social Security.
• Fred Astaire was told:  "Can't sing.  Can't act.  Balding.  Can dance a little."  

If any one of these individuals had given up on their goals after failing, we wouldn't recognize their names today.  Too many people see failure as completely bad.  But failure is part of the process.  It's something we encounter on the road to success.    

It's all about perspective.  I have blogged a lot about authors and how they were finally discovered.  One author, rather than seeing her rejection letters as embarrassing, rather than seeing them as something to throw out, saves them all in a manila enveloppe marked "Tickets to the Game".  While she might not have a "yes" yet, she is still much further ahead than the author who doesn't stick her neck out at all.  At least she's in the game (http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2014/11/tickets-to-game.html).

The concept works in the field of science as well.  When Thomas Edison finally invented the lightbulb, someone asked him how he felt about failing 1000 times.  His response was:  "I never failed 1000 times.  The light bulb was an invention with 1000 steps."  Edison didn't apologize for his many failures.  He didn't make excuses.  He simply refused to give up.  He learned from his mistakes. "Failure is one of life's greatest teachers" (http://www.success.com/article/why-failure-is-good-for-success).

Look at the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.  Sadly, Apollo 1 never made it off the launch pad and its crew died in a deadly fire.  Apollo 13 made it out into space but as it approached the moon it had a major mechanical failure and had to circle the moon and return home.  But Apollo 11 did reach the moon, making the Americans the winners of the Space Race, and later of the Cold War.  The Space program involved great risk, but it also reaped great rewards.

Author John Maxwell wrote Failing Forward:  Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones to Success (https://www.amazon.ca/Failing-Forward-Turning-Mistakes-Stepping/dp/1491513136).  He reminds his readers that "great success depends on great risk".  He recommends to his readers to "confidently look the prospect of failure in the eye...to stop failing backwards and start failing forwards."  While society doesn't reward defeat, it does recognize those who turned their mistakes into stepping stones to success, like an author and her rejection slips or Thomas Edison and his lightbulb or the Space Race and its rockets.

Don't shy away from failure.  Embrace it...until you succeed.

http://pics-about-space.com/nasa-failures-and-successes?p=1

The Marshmallow Experiment: Delayed Gratification Key to Success

Delayed gratification is "the choice of limiting the ability to get something now, for the pleasure of being able to have something bigger or better later on." (www.startofhappiness.com)

The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment was conducted by Professor Mischel at Stanford University in 1970.  A group of 32 nursery school children, half boys, half girls, served as subjects for the experiment.  They were left alone in a room with a tray full of marshmallows.  They had two choices: they could either eat one marshmallow immediately or wait 15 minutes to eat the marshmallow and be rewarded with a second one.  

Some children, of course, ate the marshmallow immediately.  Others waited, covering their eyes or tugging on their pigtails or even petting the marshmallows, but ultimately giving in to the temptation. A third of the children, however, delayed the immediate gratification and waited the full fifteen minutes, thereby receiving two marshmallows.  

Follow up studies were conducted in 1988, 1990 and 2011, which resulted in the following conclusions about the delayed gratification group:

1.  they were better psychologically adjusted individuals

2.  they were dependable

3.  they were self-motivated

4.  they scored better grades in high school and on SAT exams

5.  they had a more appropriate BMI (Body Mass Index)

6.  they were more financially successful

Professor Mischel proved a distinct link between delayed gratification and success socially, financially and health-wise later in life.  He even used his findings to kick a three pack a day smoking habit.  You can read about the professor's results in his recent book The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control (2014) at http://www.amazon.ca/The-Marshmallow-Test-Mastering-Self-Control/dp/1469249081 .

Like the children in the Stanford study who ate the marshmallow right away, we live in an immediate gratification society.  We want it and we want it now.  The United States credit card debt sits at an astonishing $448 billion.  And yet in my grandfather's time, credit cards were unheard of.  He paid cash for everything.  And he knew how to save his money.  

Brian Tracy points out that saving your money isn't as impossible as you might think.  He quotes George Klasson, the author of The Richest Man in Babylon, who states that if we simply save 10% of our gross income, we will become financially independent.  For instance, if you save $100 a month from age 20 to 65, and reap 10% interest per year on those savings, you will see a healthy return of

$1,100,000 by the time you retire.

The same goes for your health.  North America struggles with the obesity issue today.  Say your goal is to lose 25 pounds.  You say that it's impossible because of your age (forty-something) and your slow metabolism.  Here is a strategy that might work for you.  Cut 100 calories from your diet each day.  Burn 150 calories doing exercise.  That's 250 calories less each day.  Times that by 7 days per week equals 1750 calories.  That's a half a pound a week (a pound equals 3500 calories) which translates into 26 pounds a year.  You've surpassed your goal!

The same goes for your marriage.  According to Fox News, the American divorce rate is 50% (there were twice as many marriages as divorces in 2013).  Divorce is an epidemic.  The easy thing to do when your spouse looks at you the wrong way is to say:  "I'm out of here!"  The difficult thing to do is wait it out, to put your heart and soul into making the marriage work.  Couples who do take the time and effort to save their marriages often end up with a stronger relationship.  

Take Louis Zamperini in the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand at http://www.amazon.ca/Unbroken-World-Survival-Resilience-Redemption/dp/0812974492.  The Olympian was tortured in a Japanese prisoner of war camp for two and a half years.  In 1946, he married Cynthia Applewhite and she had a child but he couldn't shake his nightmares.  His post traumatic stress led him to binge drinking.  After three years his wife couldn't take it anymore and asked for a divorce.  But she returned to pack her clothes and the neighbour invited her to the Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles.  There, Cynthia gave her life to Christ and returned home to Louis saying she no longer wanted a divorce:  she wanted to work on the marriage. Louis, too, was willing to do anything to save their marriage.  After two night at the Billy Graham crusade, he gave his life to Christ and forgave his torturers.  Now he was able to put his heart and soul into the marriage.  The Zamperinis had a healthy marriage for decades until Louis' wife passed away in 2001.  

No matter what the area of your life, remember the Stanford Study.  Be patient.  Delay gratification. Hold out for the two marshmallows.  They're worth the wait!

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Sacrifice: Part of Success

"To forfeit something for something else considered to have greater value." 

(American Heritage Dictionary)

Society preaches that we can have our cake and eat it too.  We see headlines like "Get ripped without long workouts!" and "Get rich without having to work hard!" and "Loose 20 pounds and eat what you want!" and "Buy a house and pay nothing down!"  The message is that we can reach our goals without giving up anything else.  It comes as no surprise, then, that the United States has a credit card debt of $886 billion!

As Frederick Douglass once said:  "A man,at times, gets something for nothing, but it will, in his hands, amount to nothing."  If you don't work to earn your fortune, you don't appreciate it nearly as much.  With every goal comes sacrifice.  If you want to become a doctor, you must give up time with your family and friends to put in the necessary hours at medical school.  If you want to become a blockbuster actor, you must give up your anonymity for fame.  If you want to become a proficient writer, you must knuckle down and write daily, rather than watching television or shopping at the mall.

Take the story of Le Van Vu.  He belonged to a successful family in North Vietnam who, in the early 1960's, owned one third of the real estate.  His father was killed by the Communists, forcing he and his mother to flee to South Vietnam.  Le worked hard in school and became a lawyer.  Capitalizing on the increasing American presence in the South by the mid-1960's, Le became a successful builder. However, on a trip to the North, Le was captured and imprisoned.

After three years, Le made a daring escape and returned to the South and his family.  He started a fishing company, soon becoming the largest canner in South Vietnam.  However, with the Communists threatening to invade, Le made a decision:  he and his wife decided to leave Vietnam. 

In exchange for all of the gold he owned, Le sought passage to the Phillipines.  In only two years, he developped the fishing industry in his new country.  

However, the Van Vu's ultimate goal was to go to America.  On the trip across the Atlantic, Le became demoralized at the thought of starting over yet again.  He was about to jump overboard when his wife stopped him, promising to help him along the journey.  His wife's encouragement was all that he needed.  

They arrived in Houston, Texas with no money and no knowledge of English.  Le's cousin invited them to work at his bakery during the day and they took English courses at night.  The cousin offered to sell him the bakery once he came up with the $30,000 down payment.  Le knew that if he rented an apartment, it would take him forever to come up with the money.  So he and his wife lived in the back of the bakery for two years, surviving on a diet of baked goods and taking sponge baths in the mall's washroom.  

After two years, Le presented his cousin with a cheque for $30,000.  Now he owned the bakery.  But he wasn't ready to move into an apartment just yet.  He and his wife continued to live in the back of the bakery until they could come up with the $90,000 balance they owed Le's cousin.  Finally, after another year of sponge baths and baked goods, Le made good on his promise, presenting his cousin with a cheque for the remainder of the loan; he owned the bakery free and clear.

Twenty years later, at the publishing of his story in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Le Van Vu was a millionaire many times over.  For the entire story, read 2.  "Willing to Pay the Price", Chicken Soup for the Soul (1993) at http://www.chickensoup.com/book-story/36237/willing-to-pay-the-price. 

Source:  www.theartofmanliness.com

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Nothing Replaces Hard Work

"If you have talent and refuse to work hard -- so what?  It will not make a difference in your life." (www.career-success-for-newbies.com)

There is no magic formula to achieving your goals.  Success doesn't just fall into your lap.  While committing to your goals is the first step, working towards achieving them is just as important.  Be persistent and keep the bigger picture in mind.  Know that there will be days where you will tire of the routine.  As one blogger says:  "Achieving goals isn't always about a daily cork popping ceremony to celebrate something sensational that you did."

John Corcoran, who battled illiteracy for decades, learned that hard work paid off.  In Grade 2, when his classmates already knew how to read, he struggled.  The letters were all jumbled.  His teacher became frustrated with him.  The other students laughed at him.  Nobody knew that he had dyslexia, an unheard of term at the time.  

And yet, despite his inability to read, he was passed from grade to grade.  With each year, John was more and more embarrassed about his illiteracy.  He could never bring himself to own up to it.  High school did not improve the situation.  Somehow, he was accepted at college.  He made sure he enrolled in classes where the professors gave multiple choice, rather than essay question, tests. Astonishingly, he received his degree and embarked on a teaching career.  He made sure that he picked his strong students to read paragraphs, stories or books to the class.

John got married and revealed to his wife that he couldn't read.  She was astonished.  He went on to make money in real estate.  However, the economy bottomed out and John was on the verge of bankruptcy.  He had visions of going to court and having to read something on the witness stand.  He couldn't keep up the masquerade any longer.  First, he mortgaged his house for collateral.  Second, he visited the Carlsbad Library and told the librarian he was illiterate.  At the age of 48, John, with the help of a tutor, sat down and did the necessary work to learn how to read.

All of a sudden, he was on fire for reading.  He read every book and magazine he could get his hands on.  He read the road signs aloud to his wife as they drove down the street.  And he dusted off the 25-year-old love letters from his wife, reading their contents for the very first time.  He went on to deliver speeches about overcoming illiteracy, calling it "a form of slavery".  Nothing could replace the time and effort that John put into solving his problem.  He did the work and reaped the rewards.  For the entire story, read http://www.chickensoup.com/book-story/36251/john-corcoran-the-man-who-couldnt-read.

John Corcoran wrote a book about his life called The Teacher wWo Couldn't Read  

http://www.amazon.ca/The-Teacher-Who-Couldnt-Read/dp/1427798303.

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John Corcoran courtesy 

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/rvp/pubaf/chronicle/v13/o7/corcoran.jpg.

Surround Yourself with Who You Want to Be

"Associate yourself with people of good quality.  It is better to be alone than in bad company." (Booker T. Washington)

You don't do it alone.  You need help along the road to success.  You need help in your effort to achieve your life's goals.  If you are a business person, seek out talented people.  As Henry Ford said: "I am not the smartest, but I surround myself with competent people."  Develop potential leaders. Once your business grows, and you have to delegate responsibility, you can assign managerial tasks to these leaders.

Seek out the best employees.  Author P.J. O'Rourke, when writing about the Vietnam War protests and Women's Movement, maintained that:  "It's the beautiful women who are always on the edge of social trends."  While you don't necessarily have to hire beautiful people, you should hire professional looking people.  How you look after yourself says a lot about your personality; it shows you care.   

Create an environment of collegiality.  Learn how to build people up.  I once taught for a principal who had a talent for building his teachers up.  He focussed on our strengths, rather than our weaknesses.  I would have followed him anywhere, to any school, but he retired shortly after that.  

Joel Osteen says:  "Surround yourself with people that inspire you,  that challenge you to rise higher, that make you better."  If you are a student, seek out fellow students who will do just that.  When my husband Rob was in university, he had a friend who was always questioning Rob's work ethic.  "Why do you work so hard?" he asked.  "I barely try and I'm getting grades almost as good as you."  So, after two years of being on the Dean's Honour List, Rob slacked off in his third year.  He didn't make it on the honour roll.  In the meantime, his friend was furiously working away, trying to achieve "A's".  Mid-way through third year, Rob decided to pull up his socks and his grades gradually climbed back up.  His friend, however, couldn't sustain the pace.  He dropped out at the end of the year.  By fourth year, thankfully, Rob was back on the Dean's Honour List.   

Seek out people who build you up, who rejoice with you in your success.  Maybe you are a couple trying to adopt a baby.  I remember when Rob and I were on the waiting list to adopt a baby.  We had friends at the time who were also trying to adopt.  I took a proactive stance by completing a home study and getting on two waiting lists.  I also circulated 400 business cards telling people that my husband and I were searching for a baby to adopt.  While I heard several horror stories about couples waiting ten years and still not getting a child, I hung on to two local success stories.  If they could do it, so could we!  Meanwhile, my friend sat at home and did nothing.  Within a year and a half, I called her with the exciting news that we had a baby.  She did not sound happy for me.  In fact, she asked:  "Why did you get a baby instead of me?"  

Seek out people who you can trust.  If you're running a business, trust is tantamount. Trustworthy employees are worth their weight in gold.  You are not just trusting them with your money, but also your reputation.  Trustworthy business associates are also valuable.  If you open a business with someone, check their record first.  Are they already in massive debt? Did they already fail at business once (or more)?  

Say you're looking for a potential mate.  A trustworthy spouse not only helps build a good marriage, but also a good family.  You need someone who will make a good husband or wife.  Just as importantly, someone who will be a good role model for your future children (or present children, if you are widowed or divorced).  Choosing a spouse will likely be the most important decision you ever make.  Choose wisely!  

Seek out positive people.  "We become part of what we are around."  If you hang around people who are constantly swearing, chances are you are going to pick up the habit.  If you associate with people who are constantly complaining, odds are you will start grumbling too.  If you surround yourself with lazy people, chances are your productivity level will also go down.    Seek out people who have a talent for seeing the glass as half full, rather than half empty.  As Roy Bennett says:  "You cannot surround yourself with negative people and expect positive outcomes." 

Seek out others who are striving for a common goal.  Draw on their inspiration and encouragement. It's comforting to meet others who are in the same boat as you, to know that you are not in it alone.   

Note:  For more information, read The Winning Side:  How to Associate Yourself with Success by Stanley F. Bronstein http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/the-winning-side-how-to-associate-yourself-with-success/.

www.teachersparadise.com

Clarify Your Values

"Any attempt to live on the outside in a manner that contradicts the values you hold on the inside will cause you stress, negativity, unhappiness, pessimism, and even anger and frustration." (Brian Tracy)



Google's definition of values are "a person's principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgement of what is important in life."  Brian Tracy says that before you set out on the journey to achieve your goals, you need to clarify your values.  Think about what you want to be known for, what you represent.  Imagine what you would like people to write about you in your obituary.  As Dr. Gordon Eadie said about American soldiers fighting the enemy in World War II: "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."

Ideal values in the workplace include:  hard work, dependability, cooperation, initiative, ambition and high performance.  Ideal values within the family include:  unconditional love, patience, forgiveness, generosity, kindness and attentiveness.  Ideal values with regard to money and finances include: honesty, thrift, education, industry, persistence and performance.  Integrity is high up on the list of values.  A millionaire once said:  "Integrity is the value that guarantees all the other values."

Brian Tracy points out that your values need to be congruent with your goals.  "Be sure that as you scramble up the ladder of success, it is leaning against the right building," warns Stephen Covey.  If you are an environmentalist, you are not going to fit it at a factory where workers dump toxic waste into the nearby river.  He says that the people who are the happiest in this world are those whose behaviour is consistent with their beliefs.

Tracy maintains that people demonstrate their true values in their actions, especially when under pressure.  An example that comes to mind is my old neighbours.  They said that they loved their dogs, but they never walked them, they chained them up and ignored them.  Then, when times get tough and they were evicted from their home, they abandoned the dogs in the house, trapped inside with no air during a heat wave, walking around in their own filth.

"As within, so without" is a good motto to live by.  Whatever you put into your body or fill your mind with, often comes out in your thoughts and/or actions.  If you do nothing but watch violent movies, play violent video games, read violent books, listen to violent music and use violent language, chances are you are going to have violent thoughts and/or show violent behaviour.  By the same token, if you keep a positive attitude, watch positive shows, read positive books, listen to positive music and use positive language, chances are you are going to have both positive thoughts and actions.

Note:  For more information, read The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale http://www.amazon.ca/Discovering-Positive-Thinking-Norman-Vincent/dp/8122204120.

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Removing Roadblocks to Success

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." (Henry Ford)

Everyone encounters roadblocks on the path to success; some are personal, some are external. Personal obstacles, those within your control, include a lack of: time management, self-esteem, communication skills, drive, expertise, or education.  You may have loosely defined goals.  You may be focussing on what you don't want rather than what you do want.  You may be resistant to change. You may have internal conflict holding you back.  Brian Tracy points out that you may be living in a comfort zone, where you are so complacent with your job or your relationship with your significant other, that you are reluctant to change, even if it is for the better.  

External obstacles, those out of your control, include:  the economy, competition, location of jobs, lack of support and stereotyping.  

Here are some steps to follow when you encounter roadblocks:

1.  Identify the obstacle.

2.  Brainstorm what you can do about it.

3.  Seek advice from experts, confidantes.

4.  Choose the solution that is best for you.

5.  Write down your plan.

6.  Set a time frame.

7.  Act.

Your attitude is everything in your attempt to leap over any hurdle.  See it as an opportunity for growth.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said:  "Life's a journey, not a destination."  Enjoy the ride. 

Be willing to negotiate.  It certainly helped John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962! The President's willingness to negotiate helped prevent World War III.  

Ask yourself how committed you are to the goal in the first place.  Where there's a will, there's a way. If it's something you really want, you'll make it happen.  Again, as I said in yesterday's post, your passion will drive you forward.

For more information, read Overcoming Roadblocks:  Removing Roadblocks on the Journey to Your Success (Andrew Neilsen) at http://www.ebooks4free.us/197/book9781502751249.htm.

      

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Measure Your Success

"What gets measured gets done." (Peter Drucker)

If you have been following my posts this month, I am focussing on goal setting and achieving, something Brian Tracy talks about in his book Goals:  How to Get Everything You Want -- Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible.  If you want to learn more about how to set goals, visit my post "Chasing Butterflies vs. Digging for Gold" at http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2015/01/chasing-butterflies-vs-digging-for-gold.html.  

Once you have set your goals and put your plan into practice, you need to measure your goals.  One blogger suggests the following:

1.  Track your daily goals at IDoneThis, an e-mail based productivity log started in 2011.

2.  Join a goal setting website like www.goal-buddy.com (set your goal; build new habits; manage your tasks).

3.  Use the Seinfeld Method.  Keep a daily calendar in which you check off every day that you complete your goal.  A chain of checks starts to develop.  Try not to break the chain.  Visit here for a Don't Break the Chain Calendar:  http://www.writersstore.com/dont-break-the-chain-calendar.

4.  Keep a journal.  If you are working towards something intangible, like being more content, journaling is a good forum for showing the progression of your daily feelings and state of mind.

5.  Schedule a weekly dinner with your family, friends or colleagues to review your weekly goals.  Accountability goes a long way.

6.  Schedule a monthly review of your monthly goals.  Are you focussing on your major goal?  What are you goals for the following month?

7.  Assign each goal a measurable unit ex. chore chart with tasks and time allotments; a chart to spend more time with your family ex. weekly date night with spouse; # of activities with children.

8.  Other ways to measure your goals are:  rate your goal achievement on a scale of 1 to 10 (very unsatisfied/unhappy versus very satisfied/happy).  Assign a monetary value to your goal ex. If you don't follow your plan one week, you give so much money to charity.  

9.  Each month ask yourself:  Whether the goal is still worth pursuing.  How you're doing?  What action steps are needed to bring you closer to your goal?

Note:  There is a difference between tracking your goals, recording what you have done, and measuring your goals, calculating how far you've progressed towards your goal.

For more information, visit http://www.wisebread.com/get-it-done-how-to-measure-your-goals.

www.linkedin.com

Why Success Often Begins With Failure

"Behind every success story is an embarrassing first effort, a stumble, a setback, a radical change in direction." (Amy Crawford)

Think back to your child's first steps.  I know when Thomas learned to walk, he didn't just decide to take off one day.  He started with rolling over...crawling...pulling himself to a standing position... furniture walking...and then taking off for a Christmas stocking hanging on the door knob.  

It's the same with riding a bike.  When Jacqueline first learned to ride a bike, we took her to the church parking lot.  She rode around it several times on her training wheels.  One day, Thomas took the training wheels off her bicycle and she rode on the grass beyond the parking lot (just in case she wiped out).  After some wobbling, she started to balance on the bicycle.  The next day, she took off across the parking lot.  

Failure is an essential part of success.  And yet we try so hard to avoid it.  Seth Fiegerman discovered this to be true after graduating from New York University, landing a research editor job at Playboy, and promptly being laid off.  While at the magazine, he had discovered archives interviews with celebrities from Marlon Brando to Malcolm X.  The common thread in most of the interviews was how the celebrities turned their failures into successes.  

Seth realized that perseverance, not innate talent, was each celebrities most important asset.  He started a website, OpeningLines.org, illustrating the origin's of famous people's careers.  In the meantime, the unemployed writer was able to secure a job at a tech news website.

Thomas Edison, more than most, knew the value of failure.  Failure was what led to many of his 2,332 inventions including the incandescent light bulb.  The inventor explained that:  "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."  

It seems like the only failure is in giving up, or in not trying in the first place.  Whether your task is something as unusual as inventing a light bulb, or as commonplace as learning how to walk, the key is to embrace failure...until you succeed.

For more information, read http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-the-best-success-stories-often-begin-with-failure-3851517/.

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