A friend of mine and I were talking about his business recently. I was giving him some suggestions about how he could use the Internet to increase his cash flow.

He then said something that is uncharacteristic of him, because it’s
a loser statement, and he’s no loser. This is just one of the most
dangerous mindsets that anyone can have.

Here’s what he said; “I wish I’d started doing something online when you first suggested it two years ago. It may be too late now.”

To me, that’s like going to the airport and discovering that you missed your flight. What would you do? Say, “Well, there will never be another airplane going there again. I may as well go home now.”

No, you’d make arrangements to catch the next flight.

We all miss opportunities in life. I, somewhat jokingly, say that I’ve missed so many “boats” in my life they’ve started to name piers after me.

Truth is, I really have missed a lot of opportunities. It’s easy to get reminded of them too, especially when it’s someone I know who got on that “boat” and is now making boatloads of cash.

Even if you were taking action on something else that failed, you were in action, and you stayed to see it through.

I call this mind chaff. Stay out of mind chaffs, they are dark and dangerous!

That’s not to say that regret can’t be a useful tool for leaning from past actions. Again, action was the defining factor and it just didn’t work.

In the promotion for my book, “How To Take No For An Answer And Still Succeed,” we said, “If you haven’t been rejected recently, you’re not living close enough to your potential?”

I would change the word from rejected to failed now. “If you haven’t failed recently. . .”

Here’s the real danger of failure; inaction. There’s the feeling of overwhelm when things aren’t going right. Our self-doubt becomes magnified, “what if I fail again? What will happen when others see me fail again? I can’t afford to fail again. . .”

Mind Chaff! Self-doubt magnified by events that could be helping you instead of harming you. Failure is a learning tool unless it freezes you, causes you not to act.

Failing can cause people to seek safety. A “secure” job or making what may appear to be “safe” decisions. Regimented lives can feel like safe zones against the pains of the potential for failure.

This is not a bad thing for society. We need people who are dedicated to work on factory lines, do clerical work, take care of our basic needs in the service industries. These are safety zones for many who don’t feel or know that they have options.

I’m not addressing these folks, but I would say to them, keep on keeping on. Thank you, that is unless you want more.

But for those who seek upward advancement, even in 9-5 jobs who are willing to take risks, you’re my audience. And let’s face it, you wouldn’t have read this far if you weren’t!

The use of our personal power is in direct proportion to our awareness of it. There are great examples of people who came up the corporate ladder in what seemed do be the regimented lifestyle.

How? they took risks, they took action, they dared to be wrong. I admire people like these because they are surrounded by witnesses who will see their errors. In the corporate world there are always predators waiting to capitalize on others mistakes to make themselves look good.

Smart risk is to use the risk/reward ratio. Is the potential risk worth the potential reward? If so, take smart action. Smart action is the beginning of the forward motion needed to accomplish your desired result. It could begin with research, or it might be to write the check right there.

In the latter case, the potential risk would be that you could absorb the financial loss if you’re wrong. Wrong action would be to foolishly spend what you can’t afford without more active research.

Sadly, some people never consider the risk/reward factor. They are in the extreme category, they either go all out all the time for as long as they can, or they seldom ever take action.  The former often hopes for luck because they long ago gave up on their own personal powers to accomplish their goals. The latter often comes from being fearful of being seen failing.

Failure is like an element in the Periodic Table. Think of it as an ingredient. I heard Stephen Pierce use the example of h20; water. Two elements of hydrogen and oxygen. Do that, and presto, water!

If you change it by just one molecule, and I’m terrible at this stuff, I forgot which one, instead of water, it becomes sulfur. Stinky smelling poisonous sulfur! Just one small, very small change.

That’s why I’ve been so curious about how we can tap into our personal power! It’s  conscious, intelligent use of creativity to keep exploring what works and avoiding repetitious mistakes. But even if the latter occurs, to just keep on keeping on.

Here are 3 steps to use failure to get what you want. In other words, failing UP:

1. It happened already. You can’t undo it.

2. What’s left? Use it, even if only the lessons of what not to do.

3. Resolve to begin taking action to accomplish whatever monetary or personal goals that drove you to act on what didn’t work.

Know that you have a reservoir of personal power and do all that you can do to find more of it, more resilience, more knowledge that you already have and forgot you did. Know that you have the resources at your disposal right now to get what you want.

Always fail up, it’s the next stepping stone to success.

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If you would like more information on Tom Justin’s powerful new online program  “The Wizard’s Edge,” which includes a free copy of his book, “How to Take No For An Answer And Still Succeed,” just click here.

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