Without failure you will not succeed to the level you otherwise have the ability to reach. Wayne Gretzky said “You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” How true. People are seriously afraid to fail. People are seriously afraid to have someone tell them the failed. Or were wrong. People simply are afraid of criticism, even when it is construction criticism.
Because of this a large percentage of the population would rather live in a bubble where they do enough to get by, but not take risks that can lead them to another level and greater success. Why? Again, people do not like to hear negative reviews regarding their work or actions, ignoring that it is as hard to provide constructive negative feedback as it is to take it. Failures and constructive negative feedback can be learned from in ways success from maintaining the status quo will never provide.
The truth is that if you have not failed you are not trying to be your best self. If you are okay with maintaining the status quo, but not improving, keep doing the same thing and you will continue to have the same results. But do so at your own peril because while you stay in your bubble, someone more aggressive, younger, etc., will come along and pass you by. Maybe this won’t upset your apple cart and your bubble will remain intact, but are you really okay with it when those people pass you by and later leave you in the dust?
Eleanor Roosevelt said “Do one thing every day that scares you.” What scares you is different for all of us. Maybe it is setting aside five to ten minutes each morning to call someone from your list of contacts or who you want to connect with just to say “Hi” and stay in their mind. Maybe it is setting a coffee or lunch with someone you met, but don’t really know, who could lead you to business or good connections. Maybe it is agreeing to be a presenter at a seminar. Maybe it is asking people for business. It can take limitless forms, but each day you don’t do something that scares you is another day you stay in your bubble not striving to do better.
So what are you going to do today to get out of your bubble?
As always, this post and others can be found on my blog: BusinessLawGuy’s Blog.