Tip #5: Find The Exit Off The Failure Freeway

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People who have gotten used to failure make the same mistakes again and again, yet they are never quite sure why. As a result, they never seem to get off the failure freeway. If you always do what you’ve always done, then you will always get what you’ve always gotten.

What starts people down the failure freeway is a common mistake, failure or mess up. They see every obstacle or error as somebody else’s fault. As a result, they generally respond in one or more of the following ways:

Blow Up
People make a minor mistake and angrily over-react to it, taking out their frustration on themselves and others around them. Unchecked anger makes a small problem bigger. A person’s venom poisons themself more than their victim.

Cover Up
It’s in the nature of people to try to cover up their mistakes. Don’t waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. It’s OK to fail. If you’re not failing, you’re not growing. Anyone who wants to get off the failure freeway needs to fess up rather than cover up.

Speed Up
Particularly stubborn people sometimes try to leave their troubles behind by working harder and faster, but without changing their direction. When they make a mistake, they just keep stubbornly plowing ahead and end up repeating the same mistakes. Believe in the motto: “Try, stop and think, then try again.”

Back Up
Have you ever been talking with someone who made a thoughtless remark during a conversation, and you could tell they knew they made a mistake…and refuses to admit it? That’s what people who back up do. If they make a habit of it, they get stuck on the failure freeway.

Any person worth their salt will stick up for what they believe is right, but it takes a slightly bigger person to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that they are in error.

Give Up
If you stay on the failure freeway long enough, you eventually slow up. 90% of all those who fail are not actually defeated. They simply quit.

Wake Up and Find the Exit
Learn to say “I Was Wrong.” Open your eyes, admit your mistakes and accept complete responsibility. Every failure is an opportunity to take the right action, learn from your mistakes and begin again. Mistakes pave the road to achievement. The one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility.

Messages that give us feedback about life.
Interruptions that should cause us to reflect and think.
Signposts that direct us to the right path.
Tests that push us toward greater maturity.
Awakenings that keep us in the game mentally.
Keys that we can use to unlock the door of opportunity.
Explorations that let us journey where we’ve never been before.
Statements about our development and progress.

The fight to take responsibility occurs within. And rarely does talent, intelligence or opportunity make the difference in whether a person wins that battle. It calls for character. Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves – break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by our today. It’s easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of our responsibilities.

YOUR FIFTH STEP:
Take a look at a very recent failure that you have considered not to be your fault. Look for anything negative in the failure that you should claim responsibility for. Then own it. Once you begin thinking in terms of what is your responsibility, you will be able to change.

Reply below to share your experiences. How did you feel when looked at your most recent failure and took responsibility for it.  What do you think about this method? Let us know! =)

Today’s Success Tip…
The moment a question comes to your mind, see yourself mentally taking hold of it and disposing of it. In that moment is your choice made. Thus you learn to take the path to the right. Thus you learn to become the decider and not the vacilator. Thus you build character. – H. Van Anderson

With You On Your Journey…

NOTE: This is the 5th Mindset Tip in the series of a chapter by chapter summary of the book, “Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success” by John C. Maxwell.