Failure is a good friend

“Failure is your friend”

Have you heard a saying like that before?

How does hearing that make you feel?

Today, I was reading 5 Bucks a Day Revisited by Dennis Becker, the follow up to his original hit (that really launched his internet marketing career) 5 Bucks a Day. He has made a lot more than that, but there is a clever, simple premise behind the title that has changed the online fortunes of many who have heeded his words.

In the newer book, he spends a lot of time on the critical idea that if you change your perspective, you will see wealth in a whole lot of places, and that we all have something to teach, and you don’t need to buy any magic trainings and products and software to make money.

Instead, what we need is to know the basic formula for translating know-how into income. We also tend to need goals, a mission, mentoring, accountability, and a shift in mindset. All of those are the biggest barriers to our success, as without them, we end up chasing magic pills and procrastinating and blaming others instead of taking action.

That said, if you want to know the secret formula for making money online, then here it is. The big secret that everyone is selling you on in the internet marketing space.

Basically, it’s a three-step process where you:
(1) figure out what you know that you could teach others
(2) create a product or service around it, and
(3) put your buy buttons out there.

And then you rinse and repeat.

It does mean work. Nothing is guaranteed. There are lots of little steps that go along with each of those three. And no matter whose teaching or system you follow, you’ve got to internalize it and experiment for yourself to really get it and make it work for who YOU are. And there’s the rub. The lack of a guarantee that keeps people from taking simple actions to achieve financial freedom.

The likelihood of failing the first time out is real, but the rewards are immense. Like no ceiling on your income big.

But if you never take the time to assess your life experience and figure out what you know (your expertise), and put yourself out there, you’ll be stuck in the same place. Supposedly safe from ‘failure,’ but actually falling further into it every day.

Today when I read that phrase about failure being your friend, I began to reflect on some of the significant failures I’ve experienced in life, and how they have propelled me forward.

Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Like the horrible experience I had with a boss and ensuing job loss that put me on the path to my doctorate. Likewise, every grant I didn’t get and journal article not accepted (both are the currency of academia) both (a) thickened my skin and (b) gave me the necessary experience to help my students weather the same storms and do better.

If I never experienced failiure, how would I help my sons overcome the setbacks they’re going to inevitably face in life?

Even more, every failure represented an attempt to put myself out there, and eventually, by continuing to try despite setbacks, I experienced successes. Triumphs that I would never have experienced if I never tried in the first place, or had given up.

And when it comes to your life and your legacy and your family, isn’t the “risk” (to your ego, your feelings, how others may see you or gossip about you) overwhelmingly more than worth it?

Here at Think Beyond Boundaries, we help you dig deep into your life experience and pull out the powerful knowledge that you possess and show you how you can create a powerful transformational promise and outcome that your future ideal clients will pay a lot of money for.

The deeper you dig into your life, the more amazed you’ll be at the many ways your life has uniquely prepared you to serve others.

But you can’t serve others (and earn life changing income) if you don’t put yourself out there.

Of course, putting yourself out there is a risk, in that you might not strike gold the first, second or third time.

But isn’t your dream worth it to keep trying, keep iterating, keep honing your voice until you click with the people who need to hear you? Who desperately need the knowledge, systems, experiences you can share? Isn’t the change you can make on the lives of others, or in your industry, worth the risk to your comfort level or feelings?

Aren’t you ready to embrace failure as a friend?

If you need some more inspiration, here’s a really good motivational “real talk” video by one of my marketing mentors, Sean Mize: