How we deal with misfortune can make the difference between defeat and victory in our lives.
We’ve all heard stories about Thomas Edison. He went through thousands of unsuccessful attempts before coming up with the filament light bulb. When his factory was virtually destroyed by fire, he simply remarked that the disaster provided him with new opportunities to start again, and weeks later he invented the phonograph.
How many of us, when faced with misfortune, have that same outlook as Edison? We view these misfortunes as failures. We must learn, however, that these failures, properly handled, lead to great personal growth and professional success.
Here are some are six attitudes that you can adopt that will help you claim victory in your life:
Never Give Up. If Edison’s experiences don’t convince us to never give up, I’m not sure what will. There are countless other examples where a failure turned into an opportunity to, as Henry Ford said, “begin again more intelligently.”
Live in the Present. Keeping a focus on the present and future, rather than dwelling in the past, helps us avoid the quagmire of regrets. We must never lose our vision for other possibilities in our life.
Accept the Challenge. Don’t wallow in defeat, instead we must renew our efforts to succeed and do even greater things. In difficult times, we frequently learn just how much drive we have inside of us, challenging us to set our goals higher still.
Banish the Word Failure. The word is full of emotional baggage and negative connotations. We must choose to think of it as a temporary setback, a time for adjustment, or some other emotionally neutral word. We must not give away our personal power to a word.
Continue to Learn. It’s the only way we grow. If we don’t learn from the past we are destined to repeat it.
We Can Succeed. Failure isn’t fatal. We can learn from and overcome our setbacks, growing wiser and stronger along the way. It’s been said often enough, but it’s still true, we can turn tragedy into triumph.
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