Why Failure is necessary for Success

Why Failure is necessary for Success

Written & brought to you by

Ken Crause – Business Transformation Coach.

Most people learn about those who have succeeded in life and envy them. They falsely believe that their achievements are the result of their talent or natural ability or just pure luck. They falsely assume that things have always been good for those people. They just had lucky breaks, were born in the right country and the right family or something of that nature. But if you listen to the stories of so many of these now famous people you will learn something you never knew – they all came through great struggles, losses and failures – many failures. But they never gave up – they kept on trying.

THE BIGGEST WINNERS ARE ALSO THE BIGGEST LOSERS

Example – Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison held a world record of 1093 patents for inventions such as the light bulb and phonograph. He was one of history’s greatest inventors so we have much we can learn from him.

Thomas Edison's greatest challenge was the development of a practical incandescent, electric light. Contrary to popular belief, he didn't "invent" the light bulb, but rather he improved upon a 50-year-old idea. In 1879, using lower current electricity, a small carbonized filament, and an improved vacuum inside the globe, he was able to produce a reliable, long-lasting source of light.

The idea of electric lighting was not new, and a number of people had worked on, and even developed forms of electric lighting. But up to that time, nothing had been developed that was remotely practical for home use. Edison's eventual achievement was inventing not just an incandescent electric light, but also an electric lighting system that contained all the elements necessary to make the incandescent light practical, safe, and economical. After one and a half years of work, success was achieved when an incandescent lamp with a filament of carbonized sewing thread burned for thirteen and a half hours.

There are a couple of other interesting things about the invention of the light bulb: While most of the attention was on the discovery of the right kind of filament that would work, Edison actually had to invent a total of seven system elements that were critical to the practical application of electric lights as an alternative to the gas lights that were prevalent in that day.

These were the development of:

1. the parallel circuit,
2. a durable light bulb,
3. an improved dynamo,
4. the underground conductor network,
5. the devices for maintaining constant voltage,
6. safety fuses and insulating materials, and
7. light sockets with on-off switches.

Before Edison could make his millions, every one of these elements had to be invented and then, through careful trial and error, developed into practical, reproducible components. The first public demonstration of the Thomas Edison's incandescent lighting system was in December 1879, when the Menlo Park laboratory complex was electrically lighted. Edison spent the next several years creating the electric industry.

“Trial and Error”. This is the secret of champions.

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS IS LITTERED WITH FAILURE – LEARN TO ACCEPT IT.

It is a hallmark of all who will be great, that in trying they fail. BUT, they do not view failure as final or lasting. They simply view it as Edison did when asked by an interviewer about his many attempts that failed. Here is what he said;

“ I never failed any experiment. I simply succeeded in learning how it will not work, which lead me on to find a way it would.”

If you do not fail – you are not trying

If you do not try you will never succeed at anything except failure

Failure should never be taken personally – it’s not a fault unless you do not learn from it 

Have you failed at anything recently? Are you failing at something right now?

Remember that each “failure” is not you failing but rather succeeding at finding ways whatever you are trying to do will not work. By eliminating these things and pressing on to try new ideas and new ways, it is simply a matter of time before you will find what you have been looking for – the way to make it work.

Keep trying – Don’t give up.

Ken Crause – Business Transformation Coach

Email: ken@crauseco.com

Everyone is busy

Everyone is Busy

Written & brought to you by

Ken Crause – Business Transformation Coach.

Computers were supposed to make life easier ... right? Instead we find ourselves busier than ever. The necessity for both parents to go to work, children’s extracurricular activities and other demands make time at a premium. People will trade money for time in almost every case these days.

The “fast food” approach to restaurants and the added time saving device of drive through are hugely successful – because they save time. People eat on the run and do just about everything on the run. We now live with our cell phones, or iphones in order to stay on top of things. It seems like no matter how hard we try, there are just so many things that keep us busy.

But we can either be a part of the weary tired crowd or we can find ways to help the time stressed and weary of society. How can we make things easier for our customers? Can we streamline our processes and procedures? Can we do more for them and save them the time? Some stores have now installed self serve check outs to accomplish this. Some have taken on a new technology of imbedding chips that transmit bar codes so as to instantly scan products for customers. Gas stations have set up pay pass cards to make paying faster and easier.

The fact that people are so busy is an opportunity for you to help them out by making their lives simpler. By saving them time, they will willingly part with their money. Drive in oil change companies charge significantly more than it would cost to do it yourself – but who can find the time these days? Everyone can make coffee at home, yet millions find it easier to pay more by going through a drive through at Starbucks or Tim Hortons. These companies understand that they really don’t sell coffee, they sell time saving. Even bottled water is a time saving product. Trying to find a tap to get a cold drink of water while “on the run” is just too much. Its easier to simply pick up a bottle at the convenience store or dispensing machine.

THE MORE TIME YOU CAN SAVE A CUSTOMER, THE MORE MONEY YOU WILL MAKE

But more than saving time have you considered the fact that at certain times people are busier than others? TD Canada Trust recognized this and to this day they are the only bank that has hours that suit customers rather than themselves. They open earlier and stay open later. Are your hours “customer friendly”? Does it suit your clientele to come to your store within the hours you are now open or should you maybe change your hours? Sure it may be inconvenient, but that’s just the point – those who serve others best, put aside their own comfort in order to help others.

HE THAT CHOOSES TO BE GREATEST AMONG YOU, 

MUST BECOME THE SERVANT OF ALL.

Think about it – then do something about it.

Ken Crause – Business Transformation Coach

Email: ken@crauseco.com

Website: www.crauseco.com

The Dumbo Principle

The Dumbo Principle

Written & brought to you by

Ken Crause – Business Transformation Coach.

I am assuming that those reading this have seen at one time or the other the cartoon produced by Disney called Dumbo.

Dumbo is the story of a little Elephant with a dream and a great mouse for a coach. The mouse kept telling him that the very thing everyone laughed at and the thing that embarrassed him was actually an asset – he had huge ears. By looking at his big ears he could either feel badly that he looked and was different, or else he could look at his ears in a totally different light. The mouse finally convinced him that he could fly by using his ears – something no other elephant could do. He was different alright but that was not a bad thing it was good thing. But Dumbo had a hard time believing he could fly; that is until the mouse gave him a “magic feather”. Dumbo believed in magic and when he held the magic feather he felt enabled to fly and so he tried. It did not work well immediately but his efforts and coaching or encouragement from the mouse soon saw him flying and life for Dumbo forever changed.

Then one day while performing his flying act in the greatest circus, Dumbo dropped his magic feather and suddenly he panicked and lost his ability to fly. Was it really the “magic feather” that caused him to fly? Soon Dumbo came to see that it was not the feather after all, and once again he spread his ears and flew.

This is all cute and all, but does this really happen to real people? The answer is absolutely “Yes”. Many of you have heard of a man named Michael Landon. Michael became famous for his acting in the TV series, Little House on the Prairie. But let me tell you about Michael Landon. Michael was a scrawny less than average little boy. As many like him he was teased and not “part of the in crowd”. Then as it happened, Michael was required, along with all the students to learn track and field events at school. The first event they tried out was throwing a javelin. Michael had never thrown a javelin before. But on his very first attempt, Michael threw the javelin 30 feet further than anyone his age had ever thrown it. He became a star and a sensation overnight. From a nobody to a hero. Michael had found his talent and worked on it passionately. He started going to a gym, working out and strengthening his upper body so that he continually lead his school in winning at javelin throwing events.

Michael went on to get a scholarship at a major university because of his achievements but then tragedy struck. Some of the “jocks” at university felt threatened by him and did not like Michael. It was 1950, when crew cut hairstyles were the norm. But Michael was hardly the norm. You see, Michael had very long hair. So the jocks caught him one day and cut off all his hair. After this happened, something very strange happened. Michael was no longer able to throw the javelin like he used to be able to. He tried working out harder and tried everything he knew how to get back into form but without avail. Then one day in an exerted effort to overcome his problem, Michael threw out his shoulder and his fame and career as a javelin thrower came to an abrupt end. So what happened? As it was later learned, the reason Michael had long hair was because from an early age Michael loved the story of Samson. He truly believed that long hair was what gave him strength and subconsciously when he lost it, he lost his strength just as Samson did. But was long hair the reason he could throw the javelin? Of course not. It was his deep seated belief that his hair caused him to be that way. Unlike Dumbo however, he never did learn that the “magic feather” had nothing to do with his achievements. Strangely it actually affected his physical body so that he could no longer do what he had done hundreds of times previously.

WE UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF BELIEF

The experience of Michael and Dumbo is not so strange actually, because every one of us has limiting beliefs. By limiting, I mean we have come to false conclusions about our abilities and who we are. We have also failed to see that our inadequacies and our differences from others are the very thing that make us unique and empower us to be exceptional in life. We have limited our experience by the very things we believe deep down inside. If you believe you can – you can and if you believe you can’t – you can’t. Our beliefs cause us either to try or give up before we even begin.

So what do you really believe? What “liability” have you been hiding behind or making excuses for? What makes you “different” than others and how can that make you special instead of a freak or useless? Whatever God has allowed in your life he ordained for strength and not weakness. They tell me that blind people often excel in one or more of their other senses. Instead of focusing on the blindness and being filled with self pity, many have resolved to focus on what they still have for abilities and since their focus became limited (focused), they excelled beyond anything most people could ever imagine.

Dear fellow businessperson, I want to encourage you to be thankful for the way God made you – warts and all. I want to help you see that those very things you have always been ashamed of or embarrassed about may in fact be a gift from your creator to make something great out of your life with – if you will only believe it. You don’t need to change a thing excepting what you believe.

Ken Crause – Business Transformation Coach

Email: ken@crauseco.com

Belief & Feelings

Belief – and feelings

Written & brought to you by

Ken Crause – Business Transformation Coach.

Despite the fact that people are more educated today than ever, the truth is that we still act on our emotional feelings rather than logic. Even the most educated people in the world make decisions by how they feel. A number of years ago I attended a presentation by a band instructor at my children’s high school. He talked about the advancement of education and the disparity of behaviour of students. He pointed to the fact that sex education has never been more thoroughly taught in school and yet despite the education, teenage pregnancies were on the increase not declining. The question he raised was why? Why indeed? The reality is that when we become emotionally involved logic takes a back seat to our decisions. But more than that, why is teenage pregnancy and adolescent sex on the increase? I believe it is due to the fact that whatever we think about or focus on, affects our emotions and for some their emotions are so strong that nothing will stop them.

What we believe in the depths of our heart will come out in what we say and what we do. It is difficult to pretend for too long and put on a mask of how we really are and how we really feel. We have developed global beliefs about many things and these beliefs affect how we act or react. Let me give you some examples of what I mean.

What do you think when someone mentions politics or a politician? For most we “tar everyone” with the same brush. Liars, self interested, control freaks right?

How about used car salesmen? Also liars right?

How about first nations people? Drunks, drug addicts and lazy people right?

Yet none of these assessments are true though in some cases they may be, but these attributes are not unique to any group of people in particular. Depending on our experiences we will either feel strongly about this or mildly. Some may even have a totally different view of these and other groups. But there are other general beliefs that prevent us from prospering also, and these beliefs once again are gained by experience or through something we heard about or read about and believed. Things like, “Business is down because of the economy”. Really? In the depression of the 1930’s more people became millionaires than in any time in history previously – even through the prosperity years preceding the depression. How about other strong feelings we may have, like “I don’t trust anyone”. Remember that we act out what we believe and reap what we sow. When you don’t trust anyone, guess what? People will begin to distrust you too.

I remember one of my children coming home from school claiming “Nobody likes me”. Well as a parent we know that is not true, but the child honestly “felt” that way. Was it true? No. So we had to help our child past this “belief cemented in her feelings”, to see that maybe there were some people who did in fact like her. How did we do that? We found out who had hurt her and what caused her to come to this conclusion. At no time did we suggest our daughter was silly for feeling that way. YOU CANNOT OVERCOME FEELINGS WITH LOGIC. She had to reconsider her conclusion by interpreting what had just happened as an isolated incident and not indicative of her relationship with everyone. We often misinterpret events just like my daughter did and just like her come to wrong conclusions.

But let’s get to the heart of what we need to learn.

1.      We all have some messed up beliefs that are adversely affecting us.

2.      We need to deliberately change our belief’s in order to grow and become better people.

So how does one go about this? It is far simpler than one would expect actually. It all starts with what we say – both in our heads and with our mouths. For example, if you started saying this “I love people”. At first it would seem a lie since you probably don’t.

Now please pay attention. If you deliberately daily make this statement, your mind is going to look for reasons to love people because it cannot deal with an outright lie – and you will find many reasons. The result is your feelings will change and you will in due course actually feel what you say.

For those of you who have conflicts with a spouse or friend or work associate. Try saying how much you like or love that person – with as much emphasis as you can muster up against your current feelings about that person.

Is it time for some changes in your life? Are you tired of the “same old, same old?” You can literally turn the page in your life starting today simply by changing what you say, which will change how you feel, which in turn will change your experience for the better.

Out of the mouth proceed all the issues of life. The tongue is the only member of our body we have a hard time controlling. It can either make your life better or worse. The choice is yours. Psychologists have proven time and again that what we say to ourselves is an indicator of our belief system and it is that belief that will either yield good things or evil in our lives. So what do you tell yourself?

Ken Crause – Business Transformation Coach

Email: ken@btfellowship.org