Success is all there is. Failure is Success misunderstood.
There are only two entrepreneurial emotions… Success and failure. Ultimately, Success is all that exists; but for some reason mankind has decided to confuse the business-person’s mindset with the possibility of failure. Please believe the following truth before reading the rest of this piece…
The illusion of failure is a manufactured emotion that exists in a world of only Success. If you feel that failure exists within your entrepreneurial mindset, you have Success completely misunderstood.
All of us entrepreneurs were born into this business world with loving goals of success in mind; therefore, Success is our natural state of being, since we were born believing in it. Success is all there is, all there was, and all there ever will be. If this is so, then where did the idea of failure ever come into existence?
Just like the monster underneath the bed, we completely fabricated the illusion of failure.
The most counter-productive operation of your business is how you mis-perceive your natural levels of success. Know this right now… You are successful! Your company could have just gone under, and yet you are still a success! Success is always hidden beneath failure, if you will only take a moment to recognize it. Remember… Success is all there is; and failure is simply Success misunderstood.
Since failure is merely an illusion, it had to have been conceptualized into your life via some particular occurrence, right?
Often times, the idea of failure is initially manufactured within your being after you have witnessed another person stumble in their pursuit to “create†success (Remember, Success can not be “created†because Success is naturally all there is). What has happened is that you’ve either perceived this individual to be less than successful in relation to your own standards, or been told by the individual, their self, that they are a failure. As soon as you perceive another individual as a failure, or experience someone else deeming their self a failure, you potentially materialize future illusions of failure into your own business’ life. It’s amazing how reality can so easily be thwarted by something that doesn’t even exist!
This can’t be stressed enough… Success is all there is, and failure is a man-made illusion! Your business’ state of being is always determined by one brand of thought… Your perception towards it. There are actually entrepreneurs out there who perceive them selves to be failures, while at the same time having millions of customers and even more dollar bills in their bank account. How well do you think these businesses would be doing if their owner thought of their self as a success? Perceiving your self to be a failure does not breed Success; but Success always, in all-ways, breeds Success. If you truly believe that you are pure Success, and always will be, then you won’t ever have to fear the possibility of failing; because in reality, failure doesn’t even exist as an option.
The perception you have towards your business must always involve the natural emotion of Success. If you don’t, you’re simply going against Nature’s will – And Nature’s will is that Success is the only emotion an entrepreneur can ever feel; because after all, Success is all there is…
Wishing you continued success…
bizMAVERICK…
Brad Williamson
Don’t forget to add yourself as a Friend on the bizMAVERICKS MySpace profile!
Very pointed. I would have to agree with you. I think of success as being in the attempt. The outcome is just that – and outcome. And if you stick around long enough and attempt enough things, you’ll have plenty of outcomes. The trouble comes in when we try to control the outcomes. The fact is, we simply don’t have that much power. So do, enjoy, be happy and remember that there is no destination in life – only the journey.
In some ways failure is the stronger motivator because it is through failure that we grow and become stronger. Too much success can make us complacent and live with a false sense of security. Where as- toss in a little failure and we know where our weaknesses are and from this our successes are larger.
So, I guess I believe that the power of positive thinking feeds on itself, the reality of failure is the greatest motivator. So I guess I too can’t change the outcome, I can only learn from it.
Thanks for your comment Ed!
“Too much success can make us complacent and live with a false sense of security.”
To me, success is a feeling you get when you’re truly happy with your current state of being. So if you’re complacent (A smug satisfaction with one’s self), can you really consider yourself to have achieved success (AKA… Happiness)? …Eh? …EH?
Complacency is typically born out of arrogance…
Arrogance is typically born out of an inferiority complex…
If you feel inferior, you’re probably not going to feel very happy…
So if success equals happiness, a complacent individual can’t accurately deem their self as being successful.
On another note Ed… I totally agree with your appreciation of the polarity between success and failure. You can’t truly know success until you’ve also experienced legitimate failure; and you can’t truly know failure until you’ve also experienced legitimate success. Your right on with that; HOWEVER…
I can’t agree with your statement that failure is life’s greatest motivator. If you have to constantly live in fear of failure, you’ll never leave yourself any opportunities to enjoy happiness (aka success). Be cautious of failure for only as long as you have to. Eventually, you’ll reach a level of satisfaction with your life where you’ll never have to fear failure again, because you’ve achieved, and own, the success you always wanted. Once you own your success, it’s yours, and you have no reason to fear losing it.
I wouldn’t say I was constantly living in fear of failure, I would suggest that it is not fear but maybe an awareness of failure. A willingness to take failure in stride and relish successes.
I read a book many years ago called “Fear of Success”. It suggestsd that most of us are comfortable with failure since we have experienced it on many levels and have become quite adept at handling it. What we fear is success. We are not as equippted to handle it. That is why stepping out of one’s box frightens so many people and why most of the population are not entrepeneurs. Failure is a comfort zone for many. People always seem to have dozens of reasons why something can’t be done, this I chalk up to fear of success. I would rather entertain the positive and discover how I can do it and succeed.
It appears that “Fear of Success” is accurate in analyzing the burden of fear. Fear’s impact on preventing success is unfortunate; because why strive for success if fear will never allow you to enjoy it?
Many are fearful of the process of achieving success; and once they achieve success, they’re fearful that they’ll lose the success they’ve achieved. …This is a never ending cycle of confused emotions for so many people; but fortunately the cycle can be stopped with an extra dose of self-confidence, and love for one’s self and their abilities.
P.S. Welcome to SBB.com Ed! We’re all glad to have ya!
Brad,
Humans are a complicated bunch. Coinsidering all the demons we fight on a daily basis it is surprizing we achieve what we do.
Self-confidence and a positive attitude are formidable weapons in this battle, don’t you think?
*Thanks for the welcome. SBB is my #1 blog to read, so it’s quite a priviledge to also be a contributor.
Ed
I found this post while searching for articles on success. You are spot on with the notion that successful people only believe that they will be successful. At the end of the day it is all about mind control – keeping check on the thoughts that enter your head and pass into your subconscious mind. If you let the idea that you could fail enter your subconscious then it will make that happen for you. If you neutralize any failure thoughts with success thoughts then you will always be successful.
Having a strong conviction of being a success no matter how many times one “fails” is vitally important in any endeavor.
Your post has further strengthen the resolve in me. Thank you.