18/01/2024
The ability to get up from failure defines an entrepreneur [Part 2]
__"Look up at the stars, not down at your feet". Stephen Hawking
Years ago, I was watching a Champions League game in which the team I was supporting was down 3-0 at half-time, so I went to bed. Imagine how shocked I was when I woke up to discover that they won 4-3!
My friend Bishop Garlington loves to say, “We have not lost; we are just behind”.
That is such a powerful mindset for successful entrepreneurship, too. Remember at those tough tough times [and most of you know what I mean]: You have not failed, even though you are behind.
I have been behind so often in my life, but looking back at it, even when I lost the game, I somehow managed to win the Championship most of the time.
Those who work with me and know my spiritual reservoir have even heard me encourage myself by saying things like: “We don’t suffer loss. We will recover our money, even if it is not today".
In that moment of catastrophic setback, or being turned away, it matters a lot how you encourage yourself, that inner strength.
Remind yourself that it’s not the end of the world... "I’m behind but as long as I keep LEARNING, I can still win this game".
A friend of mine who is a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley told me that one of his secrets is to invest only in entrepreneurs who have experienced failure before!
I have since found that this is one of the reasons why Silicon Valley is so successful:
__When they innovate or launch a business, they are not afraid to fail. That's not to say they take it lightly, not at all. They put in all their best efforts in developing innovative , , and finding great for their teams to execute brilliantly researched , sometimes together with excellent .
But sometimes things don't go to plan...
Bottom line: Places where they are ashamed of failure, do not generally produce great entrepreneurs.
Think about it.
It’s okay to fail, as long as you keep learning and not making the same mistake(s) time and again.
Yes, you are behind (maybe) but it’s only half-time!
Image caption and credit: The most advanced telescope ever launched in space endured countless "challenges" [one can say] along the way before finally launching on 25 December 2021... at least 15 years behind schedule. Now look at just one magnificent outcome... thousands of young stars never seen before were photographed in the largest and brightest star-forming region near our own galaxy. The James Webb space telescope mission involved 20,000+ [scientists] working about three decades...
-nasa: NASA/ESA/CSA/CSA/STSCl/Webb ERO Production Team.
