You can keep your success! I'm happily married to my failure!

8 replies
So I learned a valuable lesson last night.

I was having an impossible time getting anywhere with writing my eBook. It was making me so enraged because I wanted to work so hard on it, but I could not muster up the motivation to keep working on it no matter how hard I tried. It seemed like every time I would work on it, I would just barely finish a page and it took every ounce of my strength to stick with it.

I felt like I had put in the energy to write a novel but just barely accomplished a page. I wrote like 5 pages, so you can not even imagine the torture. After a while I gave up and spent much of the night reading and learning (Fully aware that I was avoiding what I should have been doing which made me even angrier).

Although I give myself credit because I did try to keep it related to my work, and maybe that was why I was rewarded with this breakthrough.

I turned in early because I figured that I was not going to do much anyway, and just as I was heading to bed, it hit me, why I was having so much difficulty writing my eBook.

Lesson #1 It occurred to me that I was writing all this completely from my head, and that I didn't know what to write about anymore after 10 pages. I had not created an outline which I ALWAYS create when I write articles and it helps me to keep it easy to write. THAT was why I could not get anywhere fast because I did not know what to write about anymore.

Lesson #2 It also occurred to me that I was forcing a very rigid perspective for how the book should be written which was making it difficult to think of what to write about.

This morning I jumped out of bed a little earlier than usual, knowing my mistakes from the previous day, and went right to work. Sure as heck, that was the reason I couldn't get anywhere.

This morning I wrote up nine pages without a hint of trouble. Easy.

The trick is to learn from every failure so that you improve and understand why things work the way that they do.

Because if you are failing or having a tough time, then the chances are, there is something that life is trying to teach you. Don't be the class clown. Listen to what the teacher is telling you.


Lesson #3 Success might whisper pretty words in your ear, but at the end of the day, they're just words. Failure is a more cruel mistress, but she builds real character and tells it like it is. You learn a lot more from her bitter medicine than you do from success if you listen closely to what she is telling you.

Success is the gravy of failure.

So you can keep your dirty success! I'm happily married to failure!
#failure #happily #married #success
  • Profile picture of the author briantymes
    Thomas Edison tried and failed to make a light bulb hundreds of times. When asked about this he said he didn't fail... he learn hundreds of ways to NOT make a light bulb.
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  • Profile picture of the author queenbuzzy
    Absolutely.

    I've long felt that I learn more from my failures than my successes. Many times, success can be a fluke, but it's the failures that make you learn and think more about the process.

    Einstein was brilliantly quoted as saying, "I didn't fail to create the light bulb 99 times; I found 99 ways NOT to create a light bulb!"

    Congrats on your failures...I'll celebrate them with you!
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  • Profile picture of the author Mitchell H
    The more you fail the sweeter success is once you achieve it! Failing just takes you one step closer to success and it puts you way above those who dont even try.
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    • Profile picture of the author nicraz
      Supposedly Edison said "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
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      • Profile picture of the author Inspired, Inc.
        Originally Posted by nicraz View Post

        Supposedly Edison said "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
        truly encouraging words for those who fail... failure is all in your head... i'd prefer to call it, attempt.
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  • Profile picture of the author thebitbotdotcom
    Outlines are an essential part of writing, IMO.

    I don't always use outlines, but when I do, my articles are definitely meatier.
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  • Profile picture of the author gabysanchez225
    I agree with thebitbotdotcom. Outlines are key to succeeding with pretty much anything written, whether it be a novel, a screenplay, or a WSO. Just don't get bogged down, always jump in with a plan!
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  • Profile picture of the author Abul-Hussain
    Thanks for sharing.

    I always recommend to those in my coaching programme to create an outline first.

    I firmly ingrain in them the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, so that whatever they do, they make sure it's congruent with the 7 Habits.

    One of the habits is to "start with the end in mind." In other words, have a plan of where you want to end up, before you start the journey.

    Best of luck with your ebook

    Abul
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