Failure is not an option. It is required!

Failure is Not an Option . . . It’s Required!
By: Pete & Theresa Shrader
Recently an article was forwarded to me that was written by a semi well known public speaker gurus about failure. In the article he strongly discounted the tried and true “sayings” that most of us have heard such as:
“Learn from your mistakes”
“Never make the same mistake twice”
“You only fail when you quit”
"Failure is an event not a person"
The author says that failure is an event and a person.
He pushes that "failure can be avioded" and that that “It’s stupidity or mediocrity that stops you” from succeeding.
He lists 18 reasons why people fail. He says people fail because they. . .
are self defeatists
have a lack of belief
have a limited self image
are lazy
are not prepared
don’t do their homework
procrastinate
have poor timing
say the wrong things
show greed
are insincere
are not perceived as trustworthy
don’t work their butt off
don’t follow their plan
try to do everything themselves
make excuses
don’t do their best
don’t love what they do
All of these “reasons” can be overcome through trial and error or what I call “perseverance through failure”.
Persevering through failure. . .
produces success which proves to us that we can succeed
builds our belief
improves and expands our self image
proves we are not lazy
makes us more prepared
forces us to do our homework
is the opposite of procrastination
improves our timing
helps us correct the way we speak and what we say
keeps our greed in check
increases our sincerity
makes us more trustworthy
is hard work
is the roadmap to success
causes others to share your vision and to want to help you accomplish it
eliminates the need for excuses
forces us to be better and do our “new best”
causes us to love what we do or leads us to something else
If we were all automatically able to do everything perfectly from the start there would be no value in what we do. Everyone would be as good at everything as we were and, likewise, we would be as good as everyone else at what they do.
Those who try, fail, and quit a particular business or sport (insert any business/sport/etc) make those who try the same business or sport and subsequently fail, not quit, try again, and succeed, worth their salt.
Failure is the foundational cornerstone for success - other people's failure as well as your own.
Failure is the mother of competition. There can’t be a winner if there are no losers.
Failure makes people try harder, be better, become more, look for new solutions and ways of doing things, and be more efficient.
Failure is not optional but quitting is.
Quitting is the decision to give up, not trying again, not becoming better at what you are trying to do, or trying to do it a different/better way.
Success is where opportunity and preparedness meet.
Persevering through failure prepares us for opportunities and increases our ability to see the opportunities that are all around us.
The biggest mistake we can make in life is to think we “are” failures just because we fail at something.
The second biggest mistake that we can make is to think failure should be avoided.
If we aren't willing to fail how will we ever discover what we like to do, what we are good at, or what our purpose/calling in life is?
The third biggest mistake we can make is to take advice from people that are misguided.
There are three types of people in the world. People that can help you, people that can hurt you, and people that don't make any difference. -Pete