10 Lessons for Women by Women: Failure is impossible

“All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail. That is the talisman, the formula, the command of right-about-face which turns us from failure towards success.”  ~  Dorothea Brande

When all is said and done, if you do your best, it is really impossible to fail.  You may think you have failed in what you set out to do, but if you take the value from the experience, there is no failure.  Which leads me to ask:  what is the definition of failure?  I know that if I ask this question to women, I could probably get a thousand and one different definitions of missing the mark.  I think women are inherently hard on themselves – they expect a lot from themselves and expect to do it all. 

Failing at a task is in not trying; or not taking the action you know is necessary.  Other than that, failure is in how you think about it.  When Thomas Edison was asked a question about trying to make the light bulb a thousand times and failing, he answered that he hadn’t failed – he had just discovered a thousand ways not to make it (well, this is paraphrased but it’s the gist of what he said!).  For him it was impossible to fail.  And this is a lesson I think that girls and women especially need to learn - make failure impossible and it takes the fear away.  Then begin and take action – whatever the outcome, you will be closer to where you are supposed to be.

10 Lessons for Women by Women: It's a new year!

“Start wherever you are and start small.”  ~ Rita Baily

I love the concept of New Year’s Day as much as anyone else.  It is worth celebrating – for me it is a time of reflection about the past year and celebrating my personal growth and the miracles I’ve experienced during the past year.  And yes, every year there are definitely miracles.  It’s just a question of recognizing them. 

The one thing I don’t do, and haven’t done for years, is treat New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as the alpha and the omega of the whole year.  I don’t believe in making idealistic resolutions on a designated day and treading on eggshells in hopes of keeping them.  Having goals and dreams is necessary, especially for women – often we’re so busy multi-tasking, that we forget about the bigger picture, so I feel that we need the reminder of where we’re going and what we hope to accomplish.  So the solution is to treat New Year’s Day with the same respect as you treat any other day and vice versa.  It is every moment of every day that is important.  Starting over can be done on any day and at any time.  And the definition of starting over is simply to make a decision, take action on it and stick with it, one moment at a time.  Happy New Year to you!  Make 2012 (every day of this year) count for you!