May 2007
Welcome to our new Positive Principles subscribers.
This month’s tip comes from a talk I did for the IIndiana University – Purdue University
Indianapolis (IUPUI) Nurse Entrepreneur Conference. The conference attendees came
me
from the world of nursing, and they wanted information on what it takes to be an
1
intrapreneur or an entrepreneur. I spoke on what it takes to overcome the fear of
failure.
We had a great day together and I got very positive feedback on the content of my talk.
Since most of us will confront this fear at some point in our careers
careers,, I thought that I would briefly share
those thoughts with you.
In the interest of brevity, I won’t go into all of the details of how I got the opportunity to speak for this
group. However, I must mention
ention that it all began with an article written by my friend and colleague, Kevin
Eikenberry.. If you like this article, I suggest that you read Kevin's thoughts as well.
Thanks for subscribing to Positive Principles
Principles.. I hope this newsletter continues to provide positive and
thought provoking content to help you in your efforts to become a better leader and communicator.
Have a great day,
Guy Harris
The Recovering Engineer
1
a person within a large corporation who takes direct responsibility for turning an idea into a profitable finished product through
thro
assertive risk-taking and innovation – The American Heritage® Dictio
Dictionary
nary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Edition Houghton Mifflin
Company, 2004. 25 May. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intrapreneur>.
Key Quotes:
“Failure is simply the price we pay to achieve success.”
- John Maxwell, Failing Forward
“He who makes no mistakes makes no progress.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”
- George Bernard Shaw
This month's tip – Replace Fear with FAITH
It can come in any number of situations – launching a new business, introducing an idea to grow your
employer’ss business, speaking before a large audience
audience, etc.. It can limit your thinking and paralyze your
action. Its name is fear, and its opposite is faith.
Neither fear nor faith really exists – except within our minds. Let’s look closely at the definition of these
two words:
Fear - a feeling of alarm or disquiet caused by the expectation of danger, pain, disaster, or the like
Faith - a confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing
1 of 3
Both feelings come from our beliefs about the outcome of a future event. Fear represents a belief in a
negative outcome, and faith represents a belief in a positive outcome. Since we can choose our beliefs,
we can choose either fear or faith.
Fear and faith oppose each other. They cannot coexist in our thinking about any given situation. If you
have one, you cannot – by definition – also have the other. Fear and faith are mutually exclusive states of
belief.
•
Fear limits – faith expands
•
Fear paralyzes – faith enables
•
Fear cripples – faith empowers
You can move with the faith that you can overcome failure or you can cower in fear that you will fail. The
choice is yours. With this simple five step model, you can make the choice of FAITH.
Frame failure properly
Recognize that failure is an event and not a person. You are not a failure because you
have failed. Learn to view failure as an opportunity to learn and not as a terminal
condition. Frame failure properly.
Accept failure as normal
The average successful entrepreneur makes between 3 and 4 business attempts before
achieving lasting success. In Failing Forward, John Maxwell says: “Failure is simply the
price we pay to achieve success.” Accept failure as normal.
Ignore the critics
Look carefully at the definitions of critic, criticism, and criticize in your dictionary. You will
notice that each of them has a negative connotation. Critics seldom have experience or
insights that will help you succeed, so ignore them. This does not imply that you should
ignore all input from everyone you know. You should seek wise counsel from people with
experience, and ignore the critics.
Take action
Fear breeds inaction. Inaction breeds inexperience. Inexperience breeds incompetence.
Incompetence breeds more fear. If you wait for fear to go away before you act, you will
never act. In Failing Forward, John Maxell quotes educational psychologist Jerome
Bruner as saying: “You’re more likely to act yourself into feeling than you are to feel
yourself into action.” Take action.
Hang-on to hope
In this context, you should stay positive but not blindly optimistic. Recognize the reality of
your current situation – however bad it might be – and refuse to let go of the hope for
your eventual success. As Abraham Lincoln said, “When you extinguish hope, you create
desperation.” You do not want to act out of desperation. Hang-on to hope.
In their hit song Already Gone, The Eagles say “So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains,
And we never even know we have the key.” Fear places chains on you and FAITH is the key.
So for now, I encourage you to remember this month's tip . . .
Replace Fear with FAITH
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
If you know someone who could benefit from this newsletter, please forward a copy to them.
Send questions, comments, or suggestions for future topics to [email protected]
Copyright 2007, Guy Harris
You may forward this message in its entirety, or you may use the text of the message in your newsletter
or e-zine if you will include the following reference:
2 of 3
"Used with permission of Guy Harris, author of The Positive Principles Newsletter. Guy is the
Chief Relationship Officer with Principle Driven Consulting. He helps entrepreneurs, business
managers, and other organizational leaders build trust, reduce conflict, and improve team
performance. Learn more about Guy at www.PrincipleDriven.com"
Please let me know if you republish this material.
We help entrepreneurs, business managers, and other leaders build trust, reduce conflict, and
improve team performance through:
Coaching/Consulting - Training - Speaking - Products
Learn more by following the above links, sending us an e-mail at [email protected]
or by calling 765-794-4708.
3 of 3