Failure, A Stepping Stone to Success

It’s Alright to Fail as Long as You Don’t Quit! A Personal History Lesson By Gregory H Bey

Some experts say that over 95% of all home businesses fail within their first 90 days. Back in 1991 when I first got started in my home based mail order business, these people were called “90 Day Wonders” by those in the mail order business. Before the Internet, there were several home business monthly magazines. Most of these publications were targeted to people who wanted to make extra money from home.

Most of the people who read these magazines had low wage paying jobs, were already in debt, and were looking for a way to ease their financial pain. The ads in these magazines told people what they wanted to hear – that there was a quick fix to all of their money problems… People sent in their money for these money making opportunities such as work at home jobs, envelope stuffing offers, chain letter programs and any number of other money making schemes. It would only take them about 90 days to lose their small investment, get disappointed, and give up.

There’s another group of opportunity seekers who don’t stop. They go on to seek out another wealth building plan that they think will make them rich. Most of these opportunity seekers will go on for years bouncing from program to program, doing the same thing and making the same mistakes over and over again, hoping against hope that they will find some get-rich-opportunity that is just right for them but they never seem to hit the mark.

There’s a third group of opportunity seekers. They are a small percentage of people who fail also, but they learn from their experiences, and don’t make the same mistakes again. In fact they will fail many times – but they don’t let it discourage them. They pick themselves up, dust themselves off , and use what they have learned to move themselves closer to success… As one who has failed many times I know how hard it can be to keep pushing ahead regardless of what your friends, co-workers or family may say about you.

Leverage Your Failures Into Success

When you learn from your failures, and avoid making the same mistakes you’ve made in the past, you WILL move closer to success. There’s an old saying, “Experience is the Best Teacher” I have found it to be true for me. It took me years to understand that for the most part, there is no such thing as overnight success. There is no quick fix. When I studied successful entrepreneurs I found that they all had many failures on their road to success. I learned that you can’t win if you don’t stay in the game. The longer you stay in the game, the better your chances of winning.

Use Failure to Push Yourself Toward Your Goals

If I had stopped and given up when I failed the first time, I would have never gained the knowledge and experience I have today. I have accomplished things that I thought I never could do. I have accomplished these things because I didn’t let failure hold me back or cause me to stop. However, I could’nt have done these things without help from many other people I met along the way. If I had quit, I never would have met these people. And I wouldn’t have gotten the help I needed to reach the point that I am now. The help I’ve received from others has inspired me to in turn help others who might benefit from what I have learned over the past twenty plus years. So you see, failure is merely a learning tool. And you can use it to your advantage. It can bring you closer to success as long as you don’t give up.   Greg Bey