Failure and mistakes are part of the process. The only people that don’t fail are the ones who don’t try, who choose to live the safe, conservative life. Not trying is the real failure. One of my favourite quotes is from Zig Ziglar:
” when you lie in your death bed will you say I wish I had or I’m glad I did”
To say I wish I had at that point in your life would be so sad.
Failure is not permanent. It is a bump in the road that all entrepreneurs will experience. Big or small the failures will come. The challenge is how will you deal them when they inevitably come?
1. You must treat them as learnings. At each mistake take time out and ask what did I learn? What must I change to ensure never to make that mistake again?
2. Have the strength to take responsibility for it. It is easy to fall into the trap of blaming someone else. don’t do it, if you own the business you own the mistake.
3. Dust your self off quickly. When Tiger Woods takes a shot, he has an imaginary line 3 meters in front of the point of the shot. Once he crosses this line, irrespective of how good or bad the shot, he forgets it.
Do the same with your mistakes.