The best formula for success I have ever heard comes from IBM founder Tom Watson and says simply this:
"To increase your chances for success, DOUBLE your number of failures."
It’s really true. If you want to succeed you can’t be afraid to make mistakes.
When young Thomas Edison was perfecting his light bulb invention, he held over 4000 patents on various methods he had tried. After his success, a reporter asked him how he felt about all his previous failures. Edison replied,
"I didn’t fail. I merely discovered 4000 ways that don’t work."
Henry Ford had several business catastrophes before he found success. At thirty-eight years old, he was regarded by many as a failure.
Then there’s the story about the start-up entrepreneur who asks a successful businessman,
"How did you get to where you are today?"
"By making good decisions," answers the businessman.
"But how did you go about making those decisions?" the entrepreneur asks.
"By using good judgment," replies the businessman.
"And how did you develop good judgment?" the first one persists.
"Uh," says the second. "By making BAD decisions."
Quite frankly, anyone who tells you they did something perfectly the first time is probably lying – to themselves, to you, or both. More likely they made a few attempts and, with them, a few mistakes along the way.
Michael LeBeouf, author of "The Perfect Business" says,
"Those who never make mistakes usually end up working for those
who aren’t afraid to."
The only true failures in life are:
1/ Failing to try, and
2/ Failing to learn from your mistakes
Start today. See how many mistakes you can make. You just may fail your way to success.
