There’s a rhythm to this statement which I find to be very profound and simple to digest. The statement or concept, “Everything is hard before it’s easy”, is applicable to most everything in life that’s new to us whether we are learning to walk, communicate, find our way or even prospecting to find a new client. If we choose to accept this concept as a necessary part of our personal development, we can learn to embrace failure with positive expectations and excitement, knowing that it will ultimately lead us to experience successful outcomes.
“Everything is hard before it’s easy.” – Thomas Fuller.
You may agree that most infants learn to walk with just a little encouragement and positive reinforcement, (i.e., great job, you can do it and so on). And, we can surely agree that there’s usually little or no stress experienced by infants while they’re crawling simply because it is much easier and safer for them. And, infants usually press on, trying to walk, despite awkward trials, off balance attempts and the pain experienced with these challenging events. Their instinct generally takes over and, since they haven’t received much negative enforcement during these early stages of life, they usually can bounce back quickly after falling down and adapt well to changes in their environment.
“He who never made a mistake, never made a discovery.” – Smiles
As children enter into a formal learning environment, (i.e, nursery school and grade school), new challenges appear more rapidly and feedback from school teachers and peers add a whole new dimension to their personal development and self image. Positive and negative feedback become a daily reality throughout these formative years. When we experience any level of failure, pain or disappointment, such as failing a test, losing a game or being given any type of negative feedback, we tend to get down on ourselves, too. However, this is the opposite reaction about how to respond to any negative experience. Instead, we must embrace the negative experiences as opportunities to learn and to grow. And, clearly, we will learn from our mistakes and failures despite our fears, obstacles or lack of ability.
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to what happens to you, that makes the difference.” – Albert Ellis
Why are infants and children naturally able to respond to failure by brushing off the dirt and jumping back in without much fanfare? Some experts claim that encouragement from family, environmental conditions, natural instincts, self will and feedback from outside influences that all have a part in the development of our own ‘screen plays of life’.
“The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.” – Vince Lombardi
Why do some adults learn to excel or develop skills more quickly than others?
How does this question relate to the art of developing techniques and skills to be successful a sales or business development career?
I believe that the common denominator is determination and will.
“The glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time you fail.” – Chinese Proverb
This is simple and very true. When you break it down and recognize that failure is a necessary means to achieving your goals, you can begin planning your work and focusing your attention to work your plan with a new found confidence to forge ahead and build momentum. Momentum becomes a critical key to building more confidence to persevere and the ‘will to succeed’ is the main ingredient required to push ahead and achieve results.
“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” – Tommy Lasorda
Since life is full of obstacles and hurtles to overcome, it makes sense to embrace failure as a partner to enable our success. Once we accept this as our “global belief”, we are halfway there. The rest can certainly be learned…
“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.” – Vincent T. Lombardi
Filed under: Sales Development, adapt, challenges, confidence, determination, development, disappointment, encouragement, expectations, Failure, fear, momentum, obstacles, persevere, rhythm, self image, self will
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