“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
Winston Churchill
NO = Next Opportunity: This is my great friend and mentor Rob Gilbert’s formula for transforming failure into success. I love this idea and just today I had occasion to turn to it for solace and inspiration when a major “Thanks, but no thanks” email came my way from a publishing pro who was reading my YA novel.
One minute, I was dwelling in what my wonderful friend Linda calls the “Land of Possibilities,” and the next I was skirting the edge of the Slough of Despond. Luckily, I remembered Rob’s formula and pulled out a big orange index card on which I have jotted some notes from his recent mini-course on “The Art of Successful Failure.” Just in case you, too, have hit a major roadblock, here are some of Rob’s pointers to pep you up:
The road to success goes through the towns of failure.
E+R=O: An Event + Your Response = Outcome
After you fail, how are you going to respond? What do you do right after a rejection, a strikeout? What’s your next step? Do you bounce back or splat? Do you sink or swim?
Problems can be your greatest teachers. The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity.
A setback is a set up for a comeback.
Don’t get frustrated, get fascinated! Fascination beats frustration every time.
“I can’t do it” = Failure. “I can’t do it yet” = Delayed Success.
Keep on going!
Maybe we should hang these tips up on our walls where we can see them. Thanks, Rob! Check out his Success Hotline: 973.743.4690. Let’s get fascinated — and write on!