Defeat's Hidden Path to Success

“I believe that defeat is life’s way of nudging you and letting you know you’re off course.” – Sara Blakely

Defeat’s Hidden Path to Success

“When my brother and I were growing up, he [my father] would encourage us to fail.  We’d sit around the dinner table and he’d ask. ‘What did you guys fail at this week?’”

You might read Sara’s tale of her family dinners and say to yourself, “What kind of father is that!”

But if you were able to speak with Sara, a most successful person, she would go on to tell you “He knew that many people become paralyzed by the fear of failure.  They’re constantly afraid of what others will think if they don’t so a great job and, as a result, take no risks.”

You see, he had discovered one of the most empowering principles a person can learn:  Defeat reveals otherwise hidden paths to success! Before you stop reading, accept this one invitation. 

Think back to what you’ve always believed to be your greatest defeat.  Did it alter your path in some significant way?  Did if cause you to really embrace your personal strengths?  Were you motivated to prove your self-worth in some other way?  Did it steel your mind to focus on succeeding?

For most of us, learning from defeat is a very painful and negative experience.  But, what if you could turn your view slightly?  What if you decided that you could try everything and feel welcome to take personal risk? 

If you decided to define failure “as not trying something I want to do instead of not achieving the right outcome” would it make a difference for you?

Since I work in sales I’m constantly amazed at how defeat reveals opportunity.  In fact, when my clients don’t get what they think they want I say to them, “Don’t worry!  The right thing will happen for you.  It just hasn’t been revealed yet!”  Then we follow the paths we would have missed had we not been defeated.  And, you know what?  The right thing happens every time!  Well, it happens every time unless they give up.

That’s why when Sara said, “I believe that defeat is life’s way of nudging you and letting you know you’re off course” I felt it in my very core.  I know that if you and are determined to see defeat as a nudge toward our best course, we can live a life beyond our wildest dreams.  It will be a life beyond our dreams because we have made dreams into our reality.