If You're Afraid of Failure, You Need to Read This

Why are we so afraid of failure? I mean, I know I've held myself back on account of fear more times than I'd like to admit. But what am I so afraid of? What is the worst thing that can happen if I step out and try something? Take a risk? Begin an adventure?

I don't really like fear. The very first poem I wrote was when I was 13. I wrote it, submitted to the local newspaper in hopes of getting it published, and lo and behold, it was. The poem was titled "What is Fear?" I cannot remember the words, but I generally feared a lot of things back then- even failure.

Fear stifles. It cripples and paralyzes.

But the truth is that "failure" is a noun and it's subjective. When I realized this, I began to see things differently. Why can Mike, the average guy down the street, jump the hurdles of so-called "failure", continuing on with great faith and joy in his endeavors? While Jim, the Harvard grad, sit and cry his eyes out when his business only lasts one year, resolving never to try that again?

Did both fail? Well, yes, if we're defining failure in terms of "things not going as planned". But how can one guy be cool with it, dust himself off, and get back up and try again and the other guy can't?

They view failure differently. We want to look at things when they don't go as planned as "learning opportunities".

Listen, if you get this, it will change your life.

Do you know that the writer, Agatha Christie, received 500 rejections in her life trying to get books published? She could have sunk her head in shame, feeling like a failure, but she didn't. She determined to NOT let a rejection (or hurdles in general) keep her down. She learned from her setbacks and kept her hand to the plow. You know what? She sold a freakin' lot of books!

We see the successful people. Or the happy people. Or the peaceful people. We want what they have, but are we willing to keep the momentum moving forward even when trials come? Even when failures come? Even when all your buddies are laughing at you, mocking you for pursuing your passion?

You're not a failure. There's no right or wrong in the grand scheme of things. Whether it takes you one year to hit your mark or five years, it's alright! Just keep on getting up and doing what you know to do in order to get what you want. If you don't know what to do, ask for some help! There's someone who has done what you want to do. There's probably a lot of people! Get on the phone and reach out. Send an email- whatever you have to do to get the low down.

We're in this together. Life, I mean.

What do you want? Have you given up on account of a perceived failure?

Commit with me to take the word "failure" out of our vocabulary!

Let's create a good life, enjoying the journey all along the way.

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Feelings Aren't Facts

Often there may be a distortion, be it big or small, regarding how we see ourselves, others, or our lives in general. This distortion, or as I call it, the story we tell ourselves, frequently leads to emotional pain, increased anxiety, and potentially depression. That is because feelings aren't facts.

The phrase, feelings aren't facts, is commonly used in 12-step programs, yet it is profoundly true for all of us. This phrase uses the term, feelings, in such a way that it is not about emotions such as sadness, grief or anger. Instead it refers to our beliefs, perceptions, interpretations and thoughts. It speaks to the ways in which we experience ourselves, or others, in a subjective way.

Perception is Reality

When we say, for example, "I don't feel good enough." How could this statement not create further unease? Although others in our world may perceive us as amazing, or more than good enough, it is what we tell ourselves, even if it is not a fact, that emotionally distresses us.

This may be further exacerbated by making comparisons based on our assumptions about other people. We may tell ourselves, "That woman has got it all together. Look at her. How come I don't?" This story may also not be a fact, yet because we believe it is, it may further exacerbate, or contribute, to the wearing away of our self-esteem.

Fact or Fiction

When we operate from a place of misconception, distortion, or fiction, then we walk through the world from this place. This can produce a distortion of ourselves, of other people in our lives, or the world in general. If we function from a place of fear, anxiety or anger our perception of reality can be tainted with negativity. These painful feelings, although triggered by non-facts, can still ultimately affect us.

Another person's comment may remind us of something that occurred in our history. Accusations and judgements that occurred in our childhood, or adolescence, that were not resolved may influence our interpretation of circumstances in our current lives. The other person, and even ourselves, may have no idea this unresolved issue has influenced our perception unless this interaction is explored or clarification is sought.

We Believe What We Perceive

Our internal process, or how we internally experience or interpret something, is often more about our history as opposed to what the other person may truly mean. The stories we tell ourselves about what the other person means may negatively affect the relationship.

Often we use the word feeling for what is not a feeling. For example, I feel that you are accusing me of lying. It is important to differentiate this thought from the feelings that are triggered by it.

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5 Powerful Changes You Can Make To Relieve Anxiety, Stop Negative Thoughts and Be Happy

From birth to death, people have always been looking for happiness. We often hear this phrase a lot, "I just want to be happy". Have you ever stopped and thought about what it means to be "happy"? Why no matter how hard you try, happiness comes hard for you, and it seems to come easier for others? What is your personal definition of happiness? How can you tell if you're truly happy?

This post will give you a few tips and tricks to be able to change the way you think, just a little bit, that can result in powerful change in the direction of true happiness!

Let's get to it!

Recovering From Failures

The human race has built itself into what it is today using only 1 tool: failure.

A spin off of the Charles Dickens quote in the opening of his book A Tale of Two Cities goes like this: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, truly the best of times". This means that through all the good times and all the bad times there's always a silver lining, a positive aspect that makes it all worth it.

Successful people have also faced many difficulties and failures in which they've turned into strong positive roots moving forward by learning from them and fully appreciating their roles in making themselves into more knowledgeable and better people for it.

Approval Seeking

You may sometimes be unsure if your decisions are the right ones and are constantly looking for approval from others to mitigate the risk of having a negative outcome.

In the end this behaviour may make you seem less confident in your decisions. Make concise and confident recommendations and delegations with positive expectations in mind. This will not only free your mind of the negative burden of stress and anxiety but it will also, with time and experience, make for more successful decisions and help develop confidence.

You may also be seeking the approval of your peers in school or "the popular kids". This, subconsciously, makes other feel as if you are not comfortable with who you are. You are who you are, and who you are is great. By constantly seeking approval you are suppressing your own personality. Show people who you are and remember not to look for validation from them. If you amuse yourself and make yourself happy then you will also amuse other people and they will like you for who you are.

Always anticipate that people will like you, if you really believe it then it will come true because your mind and body will make the adjustments necessary with that confidence to make it reality.

Outcome Dependency

Outcome dependency is very similar to approval seeking. What you want to try to notice when you are showing signs of outcome dependency and make conscious decisions to free your mind of the outcome, be present, go with the flow and anticipate only positivity.

If by chance your school presentation doesn't go well, you do not get the job, or your decision results poorly then you should be happy because you've just learned so much from that experience which will make you better and stronger next time!

If you are OK with learning from failures, you should have no reason to fear the outcome of a situation.

Comparisons & Jealousy

Notice your thinking patterns. You are not alone, many people often compare themselves with others in this manner, some of us may not even be fully aware that we are comparing ourselves at this, or any, extent.

We want to be prettier, happier, have more money and things; this makes us feel bad about our own self and causes us to resent and repel others, you start to miss out on great opportunities, friendships and life lessons.

Instead of comparing your life with others, compare your life only to YOUR life. Think of yourself as the only person you need to impress and prove something to. Have an inner battle with yourself, challenge yourself to be more and do more. Check in with your own progress from time to time and reward yourself for it.

Giving Positivity

Selfless acts in general make you feel positive about yourself and spread positivity to others, the more positivity we have in this world the easier it is to be happy. Compassion is one of the life's most wonderful feelings and gifts. It will make a big difference in your life and happiness.

Here are some ideas of how you can give positive energy or do some good deeds in this world:

Donate to charity

Help a friend in need

Volunteer for something you're passionate about

Buy a gift or flowers for your mother or grandmother

Allow a fellow driver to merge into your lane

Write a thank you note to someone who won't expect it

Compliment others

Hold the door for others

Say hello to others and smile

Pick up trash from the sidewalk

Help someone who seems to be struggling with something

For you to accept positivity you must firstly disarm the power that negativity has over you. Be aware and be the person you want to become.

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Stop Letting Stress Bully You

If you don't learn how to control stress then it will control you. Stress kills and that doesn't just mean physically. It can have harmful effects on you physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Too many people have just accepted living "stressed out" as a way of life. But living "stressed out" causes harmful consequences.

I have a passion to educate and empower others to stress less and live happier, healthier and more fulfilled. Living overwhelmed robs us of our joy, peace, health and happiness. And many times we don't begin to recognize the effects of stress until it is too late, meaning that we might not be aware of how stress is affecting us until we begin to feel it on our body or in our mind.

You deserve to live a happier and healthier life and stress blocks that. It is extremely difficult to live an optimal life with stress always bullying you. And that is exactly what it feels like... a bully! It can overpower you and take over you if you don't conquer it.

Stress in itself is not harmful. It is our response to it that causes harmful effects. It may seem like we don't have any power over stress but we do. We may not have control over whether the stressful event happens or not but we do have control over how we respond to it. It is critical for you to learn how to respond to stress in a positive way. Dealing with stress can actually be done in a way where it is fun, energetic and relaxing.

There are many stress relieving strategies that you can begin to incorporate into your life immediately. A day stolen by stress is a day that you will never get back. That is just one reason you must decide today that you will no longer allow stress to bully you. Take your power back and let stress know who is the boss!

Plus-You Can Now Join Our FREE Mastering Success Facebook Community at www.masteringsuccess.group

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5 Ways to Recover From Terrible Failure

Failure can cause one to lose confidence and motivation. Failure can sometimes wreck havoc on our emotions and make us feel depressed. What is worse is that after failing most of us do not always wish to try again because of the negative emotions that we feel. Failure makes us avoid trying again. This can happen on a conscious and unconscious level. It is thus important that you manage what you perceive as failure well in your life to ensure that failure doesn't affect you on an unconscious level and affect your future performance as you try and achieve your goals. Some of the emotions that we experience that affect our ability to take action to create the outcomes that we seek are due to past failures. These emotions may include fear, self-doubt and a lack of confidence.

I have developed a few ways that you can use in your life to recover from failure and heal yourself so that your past failures do not affect your future performance. Here they are:

1. Manage emotions using acceptance

What we perceive as failure can cause us to have a lot of emotional strain. We may experience emotions ranging from anger to sadness and resentment depending on what the situation is. After failing it is not always possible to keep these emotions from affecting us. To recover from failure and keep these emotions under control you need to use acceptance. You need to accept that things did not go well and that there might be consequences to be dealt with from whatever that has happened. Depending on the situation, consequences as the result of failure might vary -; you might be criticised, you might be held accountable, you might have lost money, you might lose your self-confidence, you might lose your job or business. Whatever it is and whatever the consequences are, drive yourself towards acceptance because this is the only way in which you will better find creative solutions to the challenges that you might be facing. It is tempting when we face challenges to dwell on the emotional pain, to think and go over what ifs but ultimately we have no choice but to make decisions and act if we are to change our circumstances.

2. View failure as an isolated incident not an inclusive incident

In our lives sometimes we have what I call "cross contamination". When one area of our lives isn't working as well we wish it could, the unhappiness and emotional strain that we experience from the area which isn't working well gets carried across other areas of our lives. We begin to feel like nothing else in our lives is working. Cross contamination causes us to carry emotional strain from work or business to our family lives and ultimately to our health and well being. The opposite can happen as emotional strain from our family lives can sometimes extend to our workplace and ultimately our well being depending on how we respond to the problems that we face.

You need to view the specific failure that you are recovering from as an isolated incident in order to stop this from straining other areas in your life. This is not easy to do as sometimes having a bad day at work can mean a bad evening with the family or vice versa. However, if you learn to better manage your emotions and isolate problems in various areas of your life, you might be in a better position to prevent emotional strain from one area of your life to cross contaminate all other areas of your life. This can only be done through improved self-awareness and emotional discipline.

Sometimes failing in a specific area can make you feel as if you failing at everything. You need to be aware that failure in a specific area in your life doesn't mean that you will fail on every other area. So see each failure as specific and not inclusive.

3. View failure as feedback from your specific actions

After following step 1 and 2 above you should begin to be in a better emotional state to think constructively about what went wrong and what has not worked well to cause the outcomes that you did not want. With this improved emotional state you should now use failure as a learning by analyzing what really went wrong and what actions you could have taken to improve your results. Most failures are due to a lack of planning, processes that did not work well, unforeseen circumstances, failure to be pro-active and so on. This is now time for you to diagnose what didn't work with clear emotions and an open mind. So assess what went wrong and identify things that need to be improved for you to create better results in the future.

4. Commit to new actions

After diagnosing your failure and receiving feedback from it you need to commit yourself to new actions in order to fully recover from your failure. Ask yourself what you will do and no longer do as a result of the feedback you received from your failure then commit yourself to new resolutions. You can list things you will do such as early planning, better communication, improve processes etc. Listing things that you will no longer do that might have caused you to fail is as important. So also list things that you will not do in the future such as procrastinating, avoiding administrative work, communicating poorly and so on.

What is important to note is that committing to new actions will also give you an emotional boost and hope. Often when we are in distress just thinking of the next practical step to take is enough to help us have hope for better future results.

5. Remember your past successes

Remembering things you did well in the past can help you gather strength to recover from immediate failure. Have things worked well in the past? Is there historical performance that you can look to and be proud of? if so, list these great achievements and performances and make them more prominent in your mind. Remember how you felt when things worked well and rekindle these feelings to gather strength to overcome present challenges. This will help you regain your self-confidence as you plan how to better deal with the future.

Imagine what your life would be like if you had self-confidence and did not hesitate to act and create all the outcomes that you want in life. Picture yourself believing in yourself and becoming exactly who you want to be. A successful man or woman who is happy doing things that he or she loves and has great relationships. No more would you have to suffer from second guessing yourself and taking the back seat, criticizing yourself or enduring the pain of those that criticize you and do not appreciate you...

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5 Reasons Why You Need to Fail Before Tasting Success

Failure, a word everyone fears. Nobody wants to fail no matter what the field is, what the situation is or who the opposition is. Everyone looks to evade this threatening word.

But, is it really a threat? Or have people made it one?

Since our childhood, we have heard that it is not right to fail, whether it’s your academics, a sporting affair or anything else. Society has created an ecosystem where failure is considered as a curse rather than a blessing.

We are taught to hide our failures from our friends, closed ones and relatives, which let us assume that failure should not happen.


As they say, if you haven’t failed in your life, it means you haven’t tried anything new or you haven’t come out of your comfort zone. And rightly said. Unless you go out of the way to try out new things you’ll not witness failure.


5 Reasons Why You Need to Fail Before Tasting Success

It is important to fail in life. It teaches us some of the incredible life lessons, which not only make you a stronger human being but also bring out the best in you.

People fail and they do fail time after time. Consider examples from the past and you’ll get to know that every successful entrepreneur has failed at least once.

But, what makes them stand apart from the crowd is their dedication, zeal and passion for beating the past, hence, every time they fell, they stood up, fought and eventually succeeded.

It’s important to note that ‘Failure isn’t the end’. Instead, it is a necessary stepping-stone in one’s life before the accomplishment of dreams, desires and hopes.

The startup balloon is continuously inflating where entrepreneurs are trying to leave no stone un-turned in order to achieve the impossible. It is an inevitable fact that startups are prone to failures and only a handful of them, who wish to persistently work on their dreams and goals, are able to rise.

Here are five compelling reasons why failure is necessary:


1. Eradicates the Fear of Failure

Failure scares the s*** out of you. Doesn’t it?

Everyone is scared to fail, lose or stall. But, once you face that situation in your life, you won’t be scared of it anymore. The early you fail in your career or in the journey to building a startup, the better it would be for you to eradicate the fear of the unknown.

Failure is unavoidable. Whether you try or you don’t, failure will come to you in some way or the other. Failing without trying is something like not winning a marathon without participating.



You didn’t try just because you were scared of failing is the lamest thing you’ll ever do in your life. You’ve got a life for a purpose. Dream big, work hard to accomplish your goals and no matter if you fail or lose. At least you’ll be content with your efforts in the end. Plus, you’ll always be one step ahead of those who never tried.

There lies enough thinness in the fact that you will not fail.

You will and once you’ll face the hardship of it, you’ll stand, contest and win because you have to. In the midst of all this chaos, you’ll realize that nothing fell apart and you will emerge as a person who is as brave as a warrior. You’ll be ready to take up any challenge in your life without being afraid of failure.


2. Makes You More Mature

Overcoming a tough phase in life, be it during your startup journey, your love life or your professional life isn’t facile. It requires a lot of strength, focus and will. But, once you are out of it, everything looks bright and shining.

Failure is an experience which lets you learn important life lessons and explore new opportunities, which eventually make you a stronger and more mature person than before. The lessons learnt from any life situation are flexible to implement in different phases of life.

All you need is to identify the crux and gist of the same.


3. Brings Out Your Real Potential

Success can’t be achieved overnight. It is a prolonged process involving your passion, hard work, zeal and dedication along the path you have chosen. Life tests you on every turn. There are hurdles, obstacles and struggles that aren’t avoidable.

You need to cross each one of them to become a winner, which is what lets your real inner potential break free.



You’ll be tested inside and out during the course of the success path and it will only be your positive attitude, zing and passion of how badly you want it. If you hold the power to withstand all the unpredictable notions of life, then you’ll win. Otherwise you’ll fail.

4. Takes You Closer to Perfection

If you fail more than once while thriving to win, then it’s, fortunately, a positive sign. The more attempts you’ll make to cross the ultimate line, the higher the chance of you building a revolutionary product.

With every failed attempt, you’ll thrive to build better. Your efforts are likely to multiply after every failed attempt. It won’t be a surprise if you manage to build an extraordinary product which becomes the first of its kind worldwide.

5. Enhances Your Urge to Achieve

You fail once or you fail twice; but every time you’ll be standing in the middle of a two-way road. One will be pointing you to try again even harder, while the other will be pushing you to switch to another endeavour.

Whatever may be your choice at that instant of time, your urge to achieve will be on a higher side. You’ll want to accomplish your goals, achieve your dreams and make your dream, a reality.


Final words

Since our childhood we have tried to escape failure and look out to people with failures under their belt in the most ungracious way possible. As if failure is a curse.

This is what we are trying to change. Consider failure as a blessing rather than a curse and trust me; the world will become a better place to live in.

If you are passionate about your idea (a startup, a new project or a new venture), you’ll find a way to cross the line.

Millionaires have failed too (not once but quite a few times), they have also switched paths, they have also crossed a road full of barriers, but the difference they made during their journey to success was the inexorable passion for making it large, which they eventually managed to do.

Now it’s your turn to deter failure and rise above all!

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Pessimist To Optimist - How To Change Your Point of View

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

• Winston S. Churchill

An optimist has a tendency to make lemonade out of lemons, and to then see the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. It's an admirable quality, one that can positively affect mental and physical health

Studies show that optimists live longer, achieve more, and enjoy greater happiness and health.

Psychologists believe that about 50% of your optimism quotient is determined at birth. That leaves the remaining 50% that you can work on. Train yourself to become more hopeful. You can complete most of these steps instantly, and a few require a little more time.

Tips for Becoming More Optimistic

Wear a smile

I remember a line from a movie - be optimistic... don't u be a grumpy... when the road gets bumpy, just smile, smile, SMILE, and be happy!

hence go ahead and put on a bright cheerful smile - as your facial muscles communicate with your brain it will shift the energy enough to create new perspectives and new possibilities. Not only will the world look a better place, a smile will also improve your face value

Create a distraction

When you find yourself dwelling on the size of your thighs or how slowly traffic is moving, switch your attention to something more entertaining. Sing show tunes or remember romantic moments with your spouse.

Friends

Hang Out With Optimistic People. Use The positive attitude of the people around you can be a powerful force for good.

socialize with cheery friends and bounce ideas off your more positive colleagues. Your optimistic friends and coworkers are your best sounding board and will certainly change your ½ glass empty perspective.

Count your blessings

Gratitude reinforces optimism. Wake up each morning thinking about what you're thankful for. Write a gratitude list and post it near your desk where you can see it all day. As you focus more on what you are grateful for in your life (even the really small blessings!), you will worry less about anything that may be lacking. As a result, you will experience a more pervasive sense of happiness!

Banish negative thoughts

Being aware of pessimistic, negative thoughts is the first step towards banishing them for good. Next time your inner voice starts telling you something is too good to be true, or that you'll fail, stop whatever you're doing and go do something you enjoy, even if it's just for a few minutes. Being self-aware when pessimism strikes can help you to think yourself happy

Build on your strengths

Studies also show that using your core strengths will cause you to view your future more favorably. The best way to start your day and jump out of bed with an enthusiastic mood is to find your passion.

Finding your passion or what thrills you in life can turn you on each day, light your fire and boost your mood.

Focus on solutions

Put your energy into overcoming challenges rather than catastrophizing about how much can go wrong. Replace problem-focused thinking with solution-focused thinking and you'll immediately gain a sense of forward movement, possibility, and hope-the foundations of optimism.

Exercise daily

Physical activity is good for your mind as well as your body. A happy body helps you generate happy thoughts and emotions. Optimism is easier when you feel good

Practice mindfulness

In order to be optimistic, we need to stop our habitual way of mindlessly moving from one task to the next without appreciating what's going on around us. The practice of becoming more present at the moment is so powerful that it actually makes physical changes in the brain structure.

Marry an optimist

Hope is contagious. An idealistic spouse sets a good example and encourages harmony. If neither of you is optimistic, you and your partner can work on becoming more optimistic together and find friends who will be good role models.

Adjust your explanatory style

When optimists receive disappointing news, they usually view it as temporary and attribute it to external causes. Lighten up if you're taking the weather personally and remember the rain will end. It's good to hold yourself accountable for a behavior you can change, but avoid beating yourself up.

Plan ahead

Feeling in control also helps to boost optimism. Clarify your goals and strategies to makes it easier to anticipate obstacles and persevere. As your successes add up, the process will become more automatic.

Wear rose-colored glasses and walk on the sunny side of the street

"You'll never find a rainbow if you're looking down." Charlie Chaplin

Anyone can become more upbeat and optimistic. When people use these techniques, they invariably feel a heavy burden lift off their shoulders. They feel positive, upbeat, and confident. You only need a few minutes to put these tips into action. They can be your key to enhanced life including your health, wealth, and career success.

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How to Define Your Own Destiny?

How to Define Your Own Destiny?

"It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped." Anthony Robbins.

Have you ever wondered the importance of our daily's routine decisions? More than we could possibly imagine. In order to define your future and reshape your destiny there are some steps that one should follow. All of them are based in "the moments of your decisions".

Most of us tend to ignore the magnitude of these three crucial ones.


Focus on things you enjoy.
Interpretation of life.
Willingness for Success.



Focus on things you enjoy.

Firstly, DETECT the things that thrill you, that interest you the most and make them part of your life.

Achieving that, requires some simple questions to yourselves first.


What are the things I like doing?
Do they make me happy in long-term?
How can I reach to the success?



So, the first decision is related with the things you choose to focus on!

Interpretation of life.

Secondly, how you choose to interpret things to your life?

If you approach situations you encounter in your daily basis in a negative way, you've already lost the game. If you interpret your attempts for reaching your goal as a failure, every experiment stands as a dead end. Eventually you walk away sporadically from your goal. If you face any snag as a "conviction" of your primary plan, you will end up distancing yourself from your own first decision. So, stick to it and no matter what, keep on trying till it finally works out. Did you know that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was rejected 12 times? Also, a publisher advised J.K. Rowling "not to quit her current job, because you she was an inadequate writer"! Can you imagine? But still, she kept in focusing in her goals.

How can I reach success?

The third decision and the most important one is what are you willing to do about it? What are you willing to sacrifice - (I assure you that there has to be some of that, too) -but in the end you would have enjoyed those moments as well. Whatever the decisions you make, you always have to show adaptability, you will examine the outcome and use the knowledge as a result of better judgment in the future.

Remember, if someone else is more successful than you in a specific field, that automatically means this person has made different decisions of yours in the same situation or under the same circumstances.










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7 Powerful Success Lessons From Colonel Sanders

Colonel Sanders was rejected 1009 times before successfully selling his Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe. He had failed at every job he’d tried earlier on in his life, lawyer, salesman, you name it.

The Colonel was already married at the young age of 19 to his wife Josephine, had 3 children, then had frequent affairs and the marriage ended in divorce.

It’s safe to say that he didn’t have the best of lives growing up. In fact, he didn’t even successfully sell his company until he was 75 years old!

7 Success Lessons from Colonel Sanders

There’s no doubt that the odds were stacked against the KFC king. The Colonel’s story is so inspiring, and filled with hope for others who think it’s too late. Check out the 7 most powerful success lessons we can all learn from Colonel Sanders.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re 20 years old or 70. This article has some powerful points to bring to the table.

1. You Have to Go Through Failure to Get to Success

In the intro above, I mentioned that Colonel Sanders was rejected more than 1000 times before successfully selling his KFC recipe.

…1000 times!

Not only that, but I also mentioned that he’d failed at every other career he’d tried to get into. Sanders tried and failed miserably at all the below careers between the ages of 10 and 40:

Farming

Streetcar Conductor

Lawyer

Insurance Salesman

Railroad Fireman

Just goes to show that no matter how much failure you experience in life, there’s always still time to be successful. For anyone reading this who thinks it’s too late to make something of your life, start re-thinking!

2. You’re never too old to Succeed

Colonel Sanders was 75 years old before he finally sold Kentucky Fried Chicken for a cool $2 million. Which would be around about $15 million in the world of today. He remained as the spokesmen for the company after the sale.

But 75 years old… the majority of people, at least 95% give up way earlier in life. People stop thinking they can be successful even in their 30’s! And yet, the Colonel didn’t think this way, and ended up being the founder and face of a billion dollar brand.

So before you start to think that you can’t achieve your dreams, because you’re 30, 40, 50 years old… stop. You’re never too old to achieve success in life.

3. The Past Doesn’t Define Your Success

An awesome success lesson that many people need to hear, is the lesson that your past doesn’t define your future success. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve failed. It doesn’t matter where you were brought up, or what happened to you earlier on in life.

Your past, does not determine how successful you can become in the future.

Again, look at Sanders. He’d failed at every other career he’d tried… a whole bunch of them! He was in an unhappy marriage and had 3 children at a very young age. For most people that’s when they start to quit on life, and can’t see a way out.

4. giving up is the Only Sure Way to Fail

You can fail at a lot of things in life, but the KFC story proves that giving up is the only sure way to fail. If you’re some like the Colonel, no matter how many times you fail, the possibility of success is still always on the table.

You’re not a failure until you finally stop trying.

So don’t give up. Even if time is passing, you’re slowly getting older and you still can’t quite see the end of the tunnel. It’s never impossible to achieve success.

“HARD WORK BEATS ALL THE TONICS AND VITAMINS IN THE WORLD.” – COLONEL SANDERS

5. it’s never too late to Start Over

It was clear that cooking was the Colonel’s passion, but it wasn’t discovered by himself until later on in his life. He went through a complete range of careers, having to start over from scratch, again, and again.

When you try to succeed at so many different things, it can become exhausting. The start is always the hardest part, and for most people starting all over again at the age of 50, or 60 would be unthinkable.

Yet, it’s never too late, and Colonel Sanders showed this by finally being successful at doing what he loved… in his 70’s!

6. Take a Risk on Doing What You Love

It’s no secret that following your passion is the key to happiness and success. You know it, I know it, and we’ve heard all the stories before.

And yet, the majority of us still don’t go after what we want in life, before age even comes into play. People in their 20’s don’t even pursue their passions a lot of the time.

Maybe it takes a while for most to realise just how important passion is; but the hope is that we help as many as possible to pursue what they want early on.

After all is said and done, a pursued passion will make anyone a successful individual.

7. Don’t be Afraid to Start Small

Sanders started selling Kentucky Fried Chicken by the side of the road, on a small scale. After selling the recipe, it vastly grew, and franchises were being opened all over the world.

The lesson here is not to be afraid to start small. As long as you get started, and work hard, progression will come.

People often put off starting their own business, website, and such, simply because they don’t think it’s at a big enough scale to launch.

I see plenty of people in the process of “launching” websites, stuck in this process for more than 2 years, because they don’t think it’s quite ready.

Just start! Seriously!

People love progression, and once you start you’ll be able to do so. Putting things off because of perfection is not going to get you anywhere.

Summary

Just to recap on these 7 awesome success lessons we can all learn from Colonel Sanders, and the story of KFC:

You have to go through failure to get to success

You’re never too old to succeed

The past doesn’t define your success

Giving up is the only sure way to fail

It’s never too late to start over

Take a risk on doing what you love

Don’t be afraid to start small

If there’s any one point you could take away from this article; for me it would be the fact that it’s never too late, and you’re never too old, to go after your dreams.

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