What Do You Think About Success vs. Failure?

What Do You Think About Success vs. Failure

What do you think about success versus failure? Today I want to talk about how our definitions of both can either be empowering or limiting. Hi, I am Tim Fitzpatrick with Rialto Marketing. Thanks so much for tuning in. I am solo today. It is just me. It is the 3rd of July. If you are watching this now, I hope that you, your loved ones have a happy 4th of July and a safe 4th of July as well.

So, I want to talk about success and failure. I believe that success is not a destination, but a journey. Right? When we view success as a destination, we're always chasing something. I think for a lot of us that definition of success is having a ton of money, having a huge house, having a bunch of nice cars, having a successful business, or a great job, but those are destinations, not journeys. Right? We're not focusing on the journey.

I'm in the middle of reading a book from an author by the name of Tripp Lanier. The title of the book is This Book Will Make You Dangerous. And Tripp is a coach for highly successful executives, entrepreneurs, business owners, and in the book he gives multiple examples of people that he has coached who we would look at outwardly and go, "Man, those, those people are killing it. They're super successful." Right? They've got the money. They've got the cars. They've got a successful business or a great job, yet he is working with these people because they aren't happy. They aren't fulfilled. Right? They have reached some of those destinations that some of us may be striving towards and it's not it. They did not get out of it what they thought. And I think that's really, really important to keep in mind.

There are a number of reasons why I think that can happen and in the book, he talks about some of those things. But I think part of that can also be attributed to viewing success as a destination and not the journey. Right? The destination, when you get there, is rarely as great as you think it may be. You get there and you're like, "Man, what happened? This doesn't feel as good as I thought it was going to be." And if we aren't happy and fulfilled along the journey to getting there, there's no way that hitting that destination is going to make us feel happy and fulfilled. So I've taken the approach that I don't want to be always chasing a destination. I want to enjoy that journey. And so, I have defined success and failure for me in a way that has helped empower me, made me feel happy and fulfilled along the way to accomplishing my goals because I do have goals. That's not to say that I don't have goals. So I want to share my definitions with you and, hopefully, you'll find some value in that.

So for me, success is the ability to happily live my life the way I want to live it, doing what I most enjoy, becoming better every day, while I am surrounded by people that I admire and respect. I have found that this definition of success, for me, has helped me be successful every day. Any day I can be successful, I may not have reached the destination or the goal that I have set for myself, but I can be successful every day. It is within me. It is in my power. The actions that I choose to take every day can help me accomplish my definition of success each and every day. Your definition may be totally different and that is okay.

We all have different definitions, but I think it's so much more empowering to define success in such a way that it allows us to enjoy the journey that we are taking while we are working towards reaching our goals. Now, what about failure? My definition of failure is that it is the opportunity to begin again with more experience and wisdom. It is not the end of the road. It is simply a turn or a zigzag in the journey. It is a speed bump. It is not a mountain. Okay?

As business owners, as entrepreneurs, we are going to fail over and over and over again. We cannot be afraid of failure. And so this definition of failure, for me, allows me to view it as a speed bump. It's just a learning experience. I make a mistake. I learn from that. And now I am wiser. I have more wisdom. I have more experience and I can use that information to make better choices, better decisions moving forward that are going to help me get to where I want to go. So, I have found these definitions have really helped me. And I hope that this information will help you just think about, "Hey, are my definitions of success and failure helping me? Or are they limiting?"

And then if they are limiting, find a way to define them so that they help you accomplish what you want to accomplish, but they're empowering and they help you be fulfilled and happy along the way to accomplishing your goals. Because some of the goals we have as business owners and entrepreneurs, it's a year, it's three years, it's five years, sometimes it's 10 years. So, I don't know about you, I want to be happy if my goal is going to take me 10 years. Right? I don't want to sacrifice so much that I'm not happy, I'm not enjoying things until I reach that destination. And my definition of success and failure has helped me accomplish that.

So, I hope you find that valuable. Thank you so much for tuning in. Again, I am Tim Fitzpatrick with Rialto Marketing. If you want to gain clarity in where to focus your marketing efforts right now, based on where you are to get the best return on your investment, take the time to schedule a free consultation with us. I guarantee you, you will get a ton of value from it. You can do that by visiting the link here, rialtomarketing.com/free-consultation-request. So, take advantage of it. We'd love to chat with you. Remember, marketing your business shouldn't be a challenge. All you need is a plan. Till next time, take care.