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THIS is why you are failing...

by WillR
29 replies
Happy New Year Warriors!

I was reminded today of a great quote.

"Failure is NOT getting knocked down, it's not getting up again..."

This is so true, especially in our industry. I see so many people who hate getting things wrong and at the first sign of something not working, they simply put their hands up in defeat and move on to the next thing.

The reality is you can NEVER succeed doing things this way -- but this is exactly what so many people do -- and it's exactly what I did when I first started out. I had my hand in many different pies and as a result, my time and resources were spread thin and all I ended up with was a whole bunch of projects that never worked out.

I want you to ask yourself a question. If you could talk to yourself 12 months ago right now, what advice would you give to yourself? Would you do things differently knowing what you know today? Has the last 12 months brought you all the success you had hoped and planned for? If not, there's a reason for that.

I now want you to think 12 months ahead and imagine yourself looking back to this very day. Do you want to be looking back with regrets in another 12 months time or do you want to look back at this day and thank your lucky stars it was the day you finally turned things around?

Don't let another 12 months go by where you wish you had done this or you wish you had done that. Just go and do it.

Remember, mistakes are GOOD. It's one of the hardest lessons to learn and it generally means the difference between success and failure. Those who succeed are those who are willing to get things wrong before they get them right. They don't give up at the first, second, or even third hurdle. They see the race through until they reach the finish line.

So how about it. Here's to making a heap of mistakes in 2013 and being ok about it. The ugly guy who asks out 20 women on a date is always going to get more women than the hot guy who sits the corner too afraid of rejection.

What are your plans for the new year? What is the ONE thing you are going to focus on this year until you make it work?
#failing
  • Profile picture of the author CyberAlien
    Your quote is definitely true, but people also have to understand that they aren't always "knocked down". Just because you launch a new product or try a new system or start marketing a new program and it doesn't work, that doesn't mean you've failed. It's way too often that people don't get the results they wanted instantly, think they failed, and move on to the next thing.

    Sure, you'll definitely fail sometimes - it's part of doing business online or offline. Don't just give up!
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by Chase Watts View Post

      Your quote is definitely true, but people also have to understand that they aren't always "knocked down". Just because you launch a new product or try a new system or start marketing a new program and it doesn't work, that doesn't mean you've failed. It's way too often that people don't get the results they wanted instantly, think they failed, and move on to the next thing.

      Sure, you'll definitely fail sometimes - it's part of doing business online or offline. Don't just give up!
      I hear what you are saying but I personally have no problem calling an egg an egg. If I do a project and it doesn't work, then yes, it has failed. That doesn't mean I can't turn around and make some changes and get it right.

      But whatever you call it is not important. What's important is that you get right back up after those setbacks and keep on going.

      Almost every successful person you talk to will tell you how very unsuccessful they were first or how bad and hard their upbringing was. The people who seem to go through the worst can often come out the best -- if they decide they want to.

      Success is a choice.
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      • Profile picture of the author robestrong
        Although I mostly agree with you, one slight thing to add is direction. Just continuing with something doesn't mean you'll succeed. You can try your entire life to be a singer and not get anywhere. You can try forever doing the wrong thing and just not make it. Adapting, and choosing a solid direction is also a necessity. But beyond that, definitely, sticking to your guns and following it through will take you to new heights every time.

        It's always somewhat painful to see someone give up just before they really make it.
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        • Profile picture of the author WillR
          Originally Posted by robestrong View Post

          Although I mostly agree with you, one slight thing to add is direction. Just continuing with something doesn't mean you'll succeed. You can try your entire life to be a singer and not get anywhere.
          Correct. But I'm talking about IM here. If you choose a business model that has been proven to work over and over again for others, if you implement that and do not give up until you make it work then yes, you are pretty much guaranteed success eventually. But in most cases you don't get things right until you first get them wrong. That's why perseverance is so important.
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        • Profile picture of the author talfighel
          Originally Posted by robestrong View Post

          Just continuing with something doesn't mean you'll succeed.
          For years I thought that one time commission programs is the way to go. After selling over 3000 work at home programs that paid me a one time commission in the past 3-4 years, my income went down the hill because I was focusing on the wrong programs.

          That's persistence in a bad way because from those commissions, I have $0 in residual income.

          Now, things are totally different. You are not going to see me promote these programs anymore. I am focusing on residual income only.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    I would tell myself to focus more on the business, and dont let minor distractions get in the way. I would say market about 3 times harder than you're doing now.
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    • Profile picture of the author robestrong
      Totally. Another thing that you can do to offset poor direction is do several things. Don't overload yourself, and don't do things that you hate, but by making progress in 3-4 things you're not putting all of your eggs in one basket and are far more likely to succeed, and if something fails, it just kind of takes the back burner rather than bringing you down because you've devoted your entire life to it.

      Every day I make a list of the things I need to do to fulfill what I can do that do in my projects, and then I blast through it for hours, taking a couple small breaks, and then I wait for the next day or couple of days when I can continue work on it, then blast through some more, and repeat. Slow progress is better than no progress. It's just like if you've ever tried to jog/walk a long distance, you'll quickly notice that walking when you're tired gets you far farther than taking a long breather so you can run some more.
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  • Profile picture of the author KevinDahlberg
    I would tell my past self to focus on one thing and one thing only. Get that right, and get on to the next thing that is going to help grow my business.

    You are so right about not letting failure get you down. Failure is the best way to get feedback on what doesn't work. The feedback you get from failure can be as good, if not better, than the feedback you get from success.
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  • Profile picture of the author doggerel
    I wrote so many articles today for my web site that my eyes are bleeding. I really appreciate this post, Will.

    I'm ready to fail, if need be. Then move on to the next project, if need be.

    When I go to church, the pastor sometimes teaches that we inherit the promises through faith and patience. Faith I've always had. But patience not.

    That's really the tough part. Having patience means committing to something even though-- at the moment-- you don't see any visible and clear results.

    Like writing 50 articles for a blog or site, right? Traffic trickles in. Traffic dribbles in. I keep posting articles. I've got to keep on pounding the keyboard, though I don't see much of anything happening.

    I guess, in a way-- if you are ready to fail, you are finally ready to succeed.

    Anyway, thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author Shellyannr
    That is such a powerful question you asked WillR. I know if I had the mindset then, that I have now, I would have made much greater progress with my business. As soon as something seemed to not work the way I think it should, I would distract myself with something else and at the end of the day, complete nothing. At the time, I thought I was being productive,but it turned out to be a grand waste of time. So yeah, I would reiterate what you said and truly encourage everyone to exercise discipline, diligence and a sense of dedication to whatever their goals are this year... and most importantly, always take action. Here's to success y'all!
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  • Profile picture of the author nthomas00
    I think you are right on point with this thread. You only fail when you give up. If you don't give up you can't fail. However it's also important to learn from your mistakes. Thanks, this is the motivation I needed.
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    • Profile picture of the author jakejoh10
      This post brings the Thomas Edison quote to mind:

      "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

      Not being afraid to make a mistake is very important. Learning from failures is how you gain the experience to be successful.

      Thanks for the great post.

      Jake
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  • Profile picture of the author korwil
    I definitely agree. Put your mind to one thing that can be profitable and go for it. Building 10 websites that make 50 cents a day takes longer and is less profitable than one large website that earns $100+ per day.

    My Goal This Year:
    1. Focus on my 1 website
    2. Focus on my major email list

    Instead of wasting my time on building new sites and trying different niches, I am going to stick with 1 thing and hopefully build quality traffic through other sources than just Google.
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  • Profile picture of the author Greg guitar
    Great food for thought Will, and nice contributions from everyone. I would tell myself to follow the rules I created for this new year:

    1) No more than 3 main projects. (for me, "one and one only" is just too much to ask).

    2) Nothing but work on the main goals for the first 2 hours of the day.

    3) Plan every day in the morning; then execute each item with a timer running to keep me on track.

    It's humbling to admit, but as simple and modest as those are, sticking to them will be a total revolution for me, and I believe will make a huge difference in my results. They are simple, but sometimes simple and easy are almost opposites for me. So it's going to take everything I've got to follow the rules.
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  • Profile picture of the author Shining JS
    Thank you WillR, I agree with you. In my mind, failure is just an indicator to let me know what leads to failure. I keep asking myself what can I learn from this and how do I avoid making mistake next time
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  • Profile picture of the author pkumar
    If you want to succeed you must learn to embrace failures or temporary obstacles. There are many people with the required talent and skills but they lack the most important ingredient that is persistence and positive approach, they give up too easily at few hurdles. The battles of life is not one by those who are most educated, talented or powerful but by those who stay on with their dreams and keep trying.
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  • Profile picture of the author Auctiondebteliminator
    Mistakes aren't a prerequisite for success... Making better choices, sooner, is....
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  • Profile picture of the author Loader
    Great post and completely agree with you.

    Another quote I've heard was:

    "Success is not how high you climb, but how high you bounce back after falling."
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  • Profile picture of the author DanielleDeHann
    Originally Posted by WillR View Post


    "Failure is NOT getting knocked down, it's not getting up again..."
    This is a GREAT quote. I can't remember where I heard it but someone said...

    "How many chances do you give a kid to learn how to walk before he fails too much and you tell him to quit"

    Kind of interesting how kids keep falling and getting back up until they do it! We lose that thought process as adults sometimes and if we just stuck to that mentality we'd have a lot more success stories.

    My goal for 2013 is $10 MILLION DOLLARS! I picked that because I fail many more times than I succeed but I always get back up. I figured if I pick 10 Million and fail miserably and make a Million I still did pretty well

    We'll see how it goes. I just know that my journal entry on Jan 1 2014 will be a lot better than the one from Jan 1 2013 just like that one was much better than 2012.
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  • Profile picture of the author Will Edwards
    Yes, that is a great quote. It was Vince Lombardi I believe.

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  • Profile picture of the author Sushiman1111
    One mindset change that has helped me in a lot of ways:

    There is no failure, and there are no mistakes. There is only feedback.
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    That's too true, Will.

    Also, people need to realize when to give up...on a campaign. Sometimes it's going to fail no matter what. Doesn't mean you've failed, though. You've just learned and you keep going.

    Nobody bats 1.000, especially in marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Elion Makkink
    I would say you will only fail if you don't learn from your failure.
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  • Profile picture of the author internetmarketer1
    To make more WSOs and sharing my knowledge with many people!
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  • Profile picture of the author perfect
    This isn't surprising but quite refreshing, thanks for sharing as this makes one rethinks.
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  • Profile picture of the author minimalseo
    Nice post! Great way to start a day. Thanks Will!
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    • Profile picture of the author ajbarnes777
      Thanks for the post Will!

      The one thing I'm going to start focusing on this year is making my home office as comfortable as possible. Seriously.

      I've learned the hard way that when your work environment is very comfortable (the chair you sit in, the desk you work on, the keyboard you type on, the screen you look at, the smells you smell, the cleanliness of your desk, the decor around your environment, etc.), this can all help with making you less stressed, more focused, have more creativity, be able to work longer, and more.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Donne
    Opportunity seeker or Internet business owner.???????. Opportunity seekers tend to do exactly that, they jump from one opp to another, expecting each and every one to be the magic bullet, and when they dont find the golden goose within a couple of weeks ,they move on. Internet business owner has a different mindset. He researchs the niche, makes a decision, gets the end result firmly fixed in there head, reverse engineers that back to what needs to be done, forms a strategy, puts a schedule behind that strategy and, and go to work on Marketing
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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    I disagree with the OP.

    The reason as of why most people fail online is NOT because they fail to get back on their feet upon their first initial failures.

    The reason as of why most people DO fail online is because they do not provide a real solution/service to people's problems/needs/desires. That's basically what a solid business is based upon, as opposed to flashy gimmicks aimed to make a quick buck by tricking the system (which is what most people are after when they do IM).

    You know... it's pointless to raise back on your feet upon failure, only to try yet again to make money via yet another flashy gimmick or shady tactic. Either you offer a real solution/service to people's real problems/desires, or you will continue with the never ending failing/raising loop.
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