Sunday, October 03, 2010

Fail More?


from SalesDog.com:

3 Keys for Turning Failure into Success
Quote of the Week: "It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop." — Confucius
Publisher's Note:

Ah, life's little embarrassing moments. I'm standing in line at the supermarket checkout and I notice a well dressed young woman has joined the line behind me. After a minute or so she asks, "Hi, what are you doing?" Looking over my shoulder I reply, "Just picking up a few things for the house." She then asks, "What are you doing later on?" Suppressing a laugh, I turn around and say, "I haven't given it any thought." She looks at me quizzically, turning her head to reveal the Bluetooth clipped to her ear for hands free cell phone use. Gulp.
One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from sales legend Tom Hopkins, "I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed; and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep trying." This week, Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz share their insights on "failing your way to success."

Michael
3 Keys for Turning Failure into Success
by Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz
What if, starting today, the word 'no' didn't stop you anymore? What if every time you heard the word no you became stronger, more powerful, and more resilient? What if the greatest success strategy in the world was not to go for yes, but to go for no? The word 'no' doesn't have to debilitate you. In fact, it can empower you to achieve a whole new level of greatness you never dreamed possible.

Here are 3 keys to turn failure into success immediately:

Change your mental model of "success" and "failure"

Most people operate with the following mental model:

Success < < <> > > Failure

They see themselves in the middle, with success on one end and failure on the other. They do everything they can to move toward success and away from failure. But, what if you reconfigured that model?

You > > > Failure > > > Success

Instead of viewing failure as something to be avoided, turn it into a stepping-stone on the path to success and gratification. In other words: Success is the destination and failure is how you get there. To achieve significant success in today's world failure is not just a possibility--it's a requirement. We must see success and failure for what they truly are, not opposites, rather opposite sides of the same coin.

Intentionally increase your failure rate

If it's true that the more we fail the more we succeed (and it is), then your immediate goal should be to intentionally increase your failure rate. With this thought in mind, you're succeeding even when you fail.
Intentionally increasing failure is the basis for the "Go for No" concept. The more people telling you "no" the closer you get to ultimate success. Most people would be shocked if they actually counted the number of times they hear "no" during a typical day or week, it's usually quite low. The tendency is to avoid no's at all cost, but now you will start going for no. You'll hear more no's, but also get more yeses.

Set "No" goals

Everyone sets goals for success. But how about setting goals for the number of times we fail? For example, rather than a salesperson setting the goal of having two prospects say "yes" to them, they set the goal of being rejected (hearing "no") 10 times. Imagine the first two prospects they called on said, "Yes", rather than being done (having hit their "yes" goal), they'd actually be behind because they still have 10 no's to go.

This strategy continuously keeps people at the top of their game. If all you have is "yes goals" you might slow down (or quit) when you're successful because you've met your goals. But if you keep going for no when the yeses are falling at your feet, the sky is the limit.

Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz are the creators of a ground breaking business building strategy called, Go for No! dedicated to helping individuals and organizations overcome self-imposed limitations. Their philosophies have been embraced by people in a wide variety of industries and featured in numerous publications. Find out more about their Go for No! message at GoforNo.com.

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

If you'd like a tool for setting your goals, you can use this web application:

Gtdagenda.com

You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
A Vision Wall (inspiring images attached to your goals) is available too.
Works also on mobile, and syncs with Evernote.