21 Mar Failing your way to happiness (Part 2)
In this morning's free eNewsletter we published a series of articles on the general theme of failure and happiness. Here's part 2…
by Lou Tice
Do you feel that half the things you do turn out all wrong? If so, take heart, because today I'm going to tell you how to fail successfully.
After nearly forty years in business, I consider myself highly successful. The company my wife and I started in our basement now does business on six continents, and the seminars I once gave to small groups of teachers and coaches now reach millions of people every year, many of them world leaders and corporate executives.
But one of the reasons I'm successful is the same reason that Ty Cobb, the greatest baseball slugger of all time, was as good as he was. If you look in the record books, you'll find that Ty Cobb's lifetime average was only .367. That means he got a hit once out of every three times at bat. It's the same story for Babe Ruth, and for me and for virtually every other successful person in the world.
You see, we're not afraid to try and we're not afraid to fail. In fact, for us, the only real failure is not trying at all. It turns out that people really don't remember the times Ty Cobb swung and missed, and they don't remember the projects I started that, for one reason or another, didn't work out.
The fact is that successful people try more things more often than average folks do. Whether it's playing baseball or building an international business, if you try enough things, you're going to succeed a lot. One other thing is certain. If you don't try anything, you are guaranteed to fail. So go for it!
Lou Tice – The Pacific Institute (www.thepacificinstitute.com)