Gaia: UNIVERSAL HUMAN BEING - FAILURE

Re: There is no failure because success is a myth!

http://ozma.gaia.com — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 06:50:47 GMT

Nice post, thanks for sharing!

There is no failure because success is a myth!

http://chandrakanth.gaia.com — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 15:48:32 GMT

From the beginning, the entire human race has been chasing the momentary pleasure of success. But, success is also the mother of failure, just as the failure is the mother of success. In the zone of success, mind becomes a slave to name, fame, money and position, and culminates inviting failures. That is why the Rig Veda proclaims, "Let not the fruits of action be the motive of your action. Otherwise, you might be disappointed and leave the path of right action."

Story of Electric Bulb

Long ago, a five-year-old child, the son of an industrialist lay peacefully sleeping unaware of what was about to take place. His father's factory was ablaze, lighting up the sky with light.

Although shocked the industrialist decided to let his son witness the terrifying event. The little lad was awoken and with his father, witnessed the awful but magical sight of giant flames leaping towards the sky lighting up the whole city. When asked what he was thinking about, the little child replied, "Daddy, I will give light to the world."

The little boy was Thomas Alva Edison. Since that day he worked towards realizing that dream. After a series of experiments and 25,000 odd failures, he finally invented the electric bulb. Ironically enough, this brilliant mind had been expelled from the school in his student days. Still with a father like his, who instilled the art of creative and constructive thinking in his son, we can nurture thousands of Edisons on this planet.

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T. Hodgkin says, "Failure is often God's own tool for carving some of the finest outlines in the character of his children".

Rabindranath Tagore says, "Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged by man".

Robert Henry says, "Children are our hopes. Feel the dignity of the child. Do not feel superior to them, for you are not".

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Practice Like Jordan

http://vrs.gaia.com — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 11:30:38 GMT

I'm up early. Drinking a cup of the good Columbian stuff and reading about basketball legend Michael Jordan. One line struck me: “my practice habits were great.”

When I do workshops or attend book-signings, people sometimes say to me: “Robin, you make personal mastery and business leadership sound so easy to achieve in your books but it's a lot harder to do in reality.” Here's my reply: leadership comes from doing the tough things rather than by doing the easy stuff. Gandhi got to greatness by engaging in difficult pursuits (the kind that no one else was willing to tackle). So did Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr. and every other leader in society, business and life. So important to do the uncommon things to rise above the ordinary. Which brings me to your practice habits.

Any human being can live an extraordinary life. But you need to fight for it. You need to want it - with a deep degree of passion and a breathtaking level of commitment. I've never said it was easy. If it was easy, everyone would be world-class. Getting to your own unique personal and professional mountaintop takes focus, discipline and dedication (3 key traits of personal and organizational leadership). It takes daily practice around your best habits just like the great athletes derive their high performance from the practice habits.
You'd laugh if Jordan said he became the best without daily practice. Yet some of us wonder why we need to practice and work hard to build a beautiful life. Everything great takes effort. Actually, the greater the effort and sacrifices involved in the creation of something, the greater the rewards that flow (just my take on it).

The good news is this: by sticking to your “practice habits” and devoting yourself to getting a little bit better every day (and taking small steps towards your ideals consistently), within a shorter amount of time than you can imagine, exceptional results will show up in your life. Just a law of life. Being world-class isn't easy. But you will reach that league if you stay on game and put in the effort required to get to your best. And we both know you deserve to arrive at your best.

Re: FAIL FASTER

http://silentblowingwind.gaia.com — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 13:00:39 GMT

I'd like to share a short extract.(I don't know who has written this but I recieved it in my mail.)

It was a cold December night in West Orange, New Jersey. Thomas Edison's factory was humming with activity. Work was proceeding on a variety of fronts as the great inventor was trying to turn more of his dreams into practical realities. Edison's plant, made of concrete and steel, was deemed "fireproof". As you may have already guessed, it wasn't!

On that frigid night in 1914, the sky was lit up by a sensational blaze that had burst through the plant roof. Edison's 24-year-old son, Charles, made a frenzied search for his famous inventor-father. When he finally found him, he was watching the fire. His white hair was blowing in the wind. His face was illuminated by the leaping flames. "My heart ached for him," said Charles. "Here he was, 67 years old, and everything he had worked for was going up in flames. When he saw me, he shouted, 'Charles! Where's your mother?' When I told him I didn't know, he said, 'Find her! Bring her here! She'll never see anything like this as long as she lives.'"

Next morning, Mr. Edison looked at the ruins of his factory and said this of his loss: "There's value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God, we can start anew."

Re: FAIL FASTER

http://vrs.gaia.com — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 14:57:13 GMT

STEPH,

You are bang on target as regard to failure. The most important things that fear us most are the greatest healers for our life. As they say, "No gain without Pain".

My message: Run towards your Failure & you will find your Greatest Potential & Satisfaction in Your Life.

Re: FAIL FASTER

http://healingheartcafe.gaia.com — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 10:35:42 GMT

Several wonderful folks and their quotes, failure... interesting what makes us fear failure? Getting the wrong answer? Being made a fool? Do we care and how do we take those steps from fear into action?
Steph

FAIL FASTER

http://vrs.gaia.com — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 07:35:27 GMT

A BLOG BY ROBIN SHARMA:
Full-disclosure: I'm not the first to use the term "Fail Faster". But I love it. Coca-Cola CEO Neville Isdell, at the annual meeting informed shareholders that the company was now going on an innovation tear and that his organization's reinvention plan was contained in a document entitled The Manifesto for Growth (I adore that title). He noted that spending on marketing and innovation would increase by $400,000,000 and then - and here's the big line - observed: "You will see some failures. As we take more risks, this is something we must accept as part of the regeneration process." Which brings me to the imperative of Failing Fast.

At a leadership presentation I gave a while ago to the sales team of a big pharmaceutical company, someone came up to me afterwards and said: "Robin, I loved your speech. Especially the idea about failure being the price of greatness." Too many of us fear failure so we don't even try (Seneca once said: "It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that things are difficult"). Too many of us are afraid (there's that fear thing again) of looking silly or being embarrassed by failure so we don't take the risk and seize an opportunity. Too many of us think failure is bad. It isn't. It's good.

There can be no success without failure. Just part of the process. The companies and people who have reached the heights of success are the same ones who have failed the most. You need to fail to win. And the faster you fail, the more quickly you'll learn precisely what you need to do to win. So Fail Fast. Outfail the competition. Outfail the person you once were.

I'll leave you with a quote from RFK: "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." Perfect.