Don't Give Up After The First Hiccup

I don't care who you are. Failure is hard. Hard to take emotionally and quite often, hard to take financially. But failure isn't the end of the world. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Failure is simply the end of the mistake – giving you new opportunities to succeed.

In my opinion, there are two types of people in this world:

Those who have failed . . .

And those that will.

And the truth is, failure will only define you if you let it – if you never try again.

Think about it, does it matter that you have fallen in your life? That you lay there, hurt and humiliated. Are you still on the ground, crawling around like someone who doesn't know how to walk. No! You picked yourself up, brushed off the dirt, cleaned the wounds (if you had any), repaired the broken bones and went on. Even those who cannot walk again from injury, find a way to get around – to move on with their lives. The testament to this is Christopher Reeve, who even after being thrown from a horse, breaking his back and ending up confined to a wheel chair, didn't let it keep him down. And he turned tragedy into opportunity not just for himself but everyone that followed him.

Unfortunately, most of us, somehow think grand failure, whether it be getting turned down for a loan, bankruptcy, being fired from our job, not getting the job you want, or any other personal or business catastrophe, is somehow different than small hiccups. We make excuses and give up trying.

More times than not, when people pursue their dreams, they quit at the first sign of trouble. They use circumstances as excuses for giving up. Literally, they quit trying.

I've heard countless people tell me that not getting a job or being turned down for something you really wanted is a “sign”. Sure, it's a sign - a sign that you need to re-evaluate, and figure out another path. But what it's not . . . is a sign to quit!

What if your parents thought that you falling after taking your first step was a sign that you weren't supposed to walk? Where would you be today?

What if the first time you had your heart broke that you took it as a sign that you weren't meant to love ever again? What kind of life would you have?

We all have had struggles in our lives. We all have fallen . . . and / or failed. And we all have gotten back up.

I define Commitment to a Dream or Goal as the willingness to do WHATEVER it takes to make it happen within your own moral boundaries. That doesn't mean until you hit a wall, come up on something you didn't anticipate, or have a hiccup in your plan. It means NO MATTER WHAT you find a way.

If your goal is money and you want to make $1,000,000 then commit to it and make it happen.

If your goal is to rescue all the abused pets of the world, then do whatever you MUST do to make that happen.

But I have to warn you, when you commit to something, it means you have to be willing to accept the “unintended” as well as the “intended” consequences. You will have to make decisions that you didn't think you were going to have to make. You may face choices between keeping the life you have currently and the life you want to create. And that is scary – even for the most confident person

So, what are you going to do . . . quit next time you fail or have even the slightest hiccup? Or are you going to pick yourself up, wipe yourself off and try, try again?

Join me in saying and of course living the famous, Winston Churchill quote,

"Never, never, never, never give up!"