Success Begins in Your Mind

Most people who fail in business fail because they don’t know how to keep their attitudes positive on a daily basis. They start their careers learning and practicing the basics, applying those ideas, and end up making some money. Then, they fall into a slump. They stay in a slump until they revisit the fundamentals. Until then, they return to doing what they get paid for and accept failure and rejection without letting it stop them.

The key to success is in how you handle failure. Handling failure does not come naturally to most people. It is an acquired skill.

Some of your emotions tell you to sulk and avoid any situations in the future that are likely to put you in line to feel the pain of rejection again. Other emotions tell you to get more out of life for yourself and your loved ones. Concentrate on what you have to gain, and learn how to change your attitude toward rejection.

I am going to present five sayings that have helped me move forward in all areas of my life. Memorize them and recall them when you’re rejected or have failed to achieve what you wanted.

I never see failure as failure, but only as a learning experience.

Every sale that doesn’t go through is a learning experience; every challenge you have is a learning experience. Learn from your failures. Thomas Edison, who conducted more than ten thousand experiments on filaments before he produced a practical light bulb, was once asked, “How did you keep going after you failed more than ten thousand times?” Edison replied, “I did not fail ten thousand times; I learned ten thousand ways that didn’t work.” Like Edison, try to look at failure and rejection in a different light as a learning experience.

I never see failure as failure, but only as the negative feedback I need to change course in my direction.

Outside a restaurant with a lively bar, I once saw a gentleman who had too much to drink try to unlock his car with the wrong key. No matter how many times he tried, the wrong key still didn’t work. After I’d talked him into taking a taxi home, it occurred to me that sometimes we all keep using techniques that don’t work in our selling endeavors. We keep applying the wrong solution to the problem long after we’ve tried it and failed.

I never see failure as failure, but only as the opportunity to develop my sense of humor.

Have you ever had a traumatic experience involving a sales presentation? Three weeks later, you finally tell someone about it and suddenly that same event is hilarious. The longer you wait to laugh, the more that failure will hold you back. Make a determined effort to laugh sooner, and learn the trick of telling a good story on yourself.

I never see failure as failure, but only as an opportunity to practice my techniques and perfect my performance.

Every time you present your service to others and they don’t buy, at least they gave you a chance to practice. Many people don’t realize the importance of this. Learn to appreciate the opportunity to improve.

I never see failure as failure, but only as the game I must play to win.

Selling is a game. Life is a game. Both have their rules. Over the years, I’ve discovered that a single rule dominates every situation: Those who risk failure by working with more people earn more money. Those who risk less failure earn less. If you risk failure, sometimes you will fail. But every time you fail, you’re that much closer to success. Success demands its percentage of failure.

Work with these five attitudes towards rejection. What counts isn’t how many transactions fall out, how many doors slam, how many things don’t work out, how many people go back on their word. What counts is how many times you pick yourself up, shrug off failure, and keep on trying to make things come together.

Learn more from the NCM Institute and their Parts and Accessories Management courses.