Failures: Why We Hold on to Them Like Vintage Baseball Cards

The Leadership Blitz
October 8th, 2009

When you were in school, did you ever receive a failing grade on a quiz or paper?

For many people, I know the answer to that question is no. There were a lot of individuals who knew their responsibilities and put their school work first. Even if they waited until the last minute, somehow their finished product always resulted in an 'A.' My sister was a prime example of this and it used to frustrate the hell out of me! Looking back, I'm proud of her for what she's accomplished. But when we were growing up, it was infuriating.

For a great number of us, good grades did not come naturally. I'll be the first to raise my hand and say I suffered through my fair share of failing grades. I was never proud of it, but I always brushed it off and knew I could recover by doing well on the next test, or the next report.

And that's what I did. I always passed, I just chose to work hard all at once instead of a little each assignment. Why I put this sort of pressure on myself, I'll never know. But it certainly allowed a lot more free time for me to play football and basketball with my friends after school. I prided myself on my development of "street smarts." And while I'll defend to the death the importance of street smarts, you can't write that skill on a college resume next to a transcript full of 'Fs' and hope to get accepted.

I am happy to say I managed to transform my ways once I reached college and realized what was truly important. Basically, there was a world of opportunity and a large sum of money that would be flushed down the toilet if I didn't graduate. That was a pretty good motivator.

Nevertheless, as I sat down today, I was thinking about how easy it used to be to just push a low or failing grade off to the side and tell myself, "You'll do better the next time." But as I grew up, I managed to hold onto failures like they were rare collectibles.

So, here's the million dollar question of the day: What changes from the time we are kids to the time we become adults that disables us from letting go of failed attempts?

It's a mysterious anomaly. As adults, we tend to use failure as an excuse to never do something like that again. An investment gone wrong, a business venture gone array, or an expensive purchase of something we really didn't need instead of using that money to alleviate some debt.

These mistakes seem to put us in a little safety cocoon and we refuse to do what we did when we were kids: Try harder the next time. Because you failed at something along the way does not make you a failure overall. It just means you gained some experience that can be used to succeed the next time.

I can honestly say, when I stopped letting failures dictate my action and began treating them as experience, my ability to become more innovative in my business efforts became much more clear.

Today, let go of past failures. Do not let the negatives of the past dictate the course you put your life on going forward. Think back to a time when a failure wasn't the end of the world, simply an opportunity to get better the next time.

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." — John Wooden

Be the Best,

Jason Cercone
Internet Marketing & Home Business Consultant
jason.cercone@gmail.com
412-965-8428