Five Things I Learned in 2009 About Success, Failure and Love
Although 2009 has not been a completely easy year for most people to grow and make gains, you can get a lot of knowledge from your challenges and frustrations. We face many obstacles to reaching our goals no matter what the circumstances. If you focus on ways to overcome these obstacles and deal with them, you will be a much stronger business person for having done it. You will have more internal strength and confidence if you learn to turn obstacles into opportunities.
Here goes. These are some of the things that I learned from 2009 and I hope you can learn from them too.
1. Always Trust Your Gut Instincts.
When you are trying to make important decisions, your instincts usually the best guide for making the right choices. Find the information you need to help you in making the best decision, and then go with your hunch. Many things are decided best by using common sense. That is simply using your gut reaction. When many of us go against our hunches, we usually end up paying a heavy price for it.
2. Don't Overuse Your Strengths or They will Become Your Weaknesses.
My strengths are collaborating and getting the right people connected for a successful outcome to a project. I get others together to make a far greater outcome than I could do on my own. It became apparent to me that I over used my collaborating skills sometimes and I created a sort of co-dependence on other people. Remember that to align with others is good if it is to balance strengths. It is not so good if you are trying to compensate for your weaknesses.
3. Learn When to Pull the Plug on a Losing Project.
There are times that, out of loyalty and hard headedness, we keep pushing ahead on projects that are not in our best interest. When we first start out, we are excited about an outcome and it is hard to give up the fight, but sometimes it is best for all concerned to stop wasting time and effort on something that is just not likely to work out. This includes letting a person go from your team. Loyalty can be the wrong reason to keep someone who is misplaced. You will hold them back also. This may also involve stopping a pet project that you were sure would work. Sometimes accepting the fact that you need to stop something early can be best for all concerned.
4. Don't Take Failures Personally.
This is a hard thing to do sometimes. When you have a few setbacks, no big deal, you just get up and go on. When you start to have more than a few though, things can get a little depressing. You sometimes need to call on your support team, to help you pull yourself up by your boot straps and get moving. Failures are opportunities to learn something new and use it to reach higher ground. You need to have a good support system that you can lean on or fall on every now and then, but don't let your failures wear you down. They are obstacles in the road that you can deal with and overcome.
5. Look for Success in Ways Other Than Monetary Measurements.
This year I met someone who has added more to my life than I ever thought possible. I met my soul mate, a man that I am truly in love with and happy with. He is not even in my industry. He understands what my purpose in life is though, and is very supportive of my efforts. He is just as committed to personal growth, financial success and helping others as I am. We look in the same direction and have the same vision. So success can come in unexpected ways. Be open to seeing all possibilities.
What lessons about failure, success, and love did you learn for yourself in 2009? Author, life coach, and entrepreneur Melanie Strick can help! Click this link for more info on how you can diversify your income to create more stability: CEO Success Strategies.
