February 2011
To
 continue to help you be a better leader I wanted to focus on your 
mindset this month. There are so many myths out there as well as stories
 and depictions that don't really add value or help you create success 
in your life or your leadership.
For
 example, many success gurus purport a 1953 Yale Study that proved that 
the 3% of graduates who wrote down their goals accounted for 97% of the 
class' wealth. Have you ever heard of this study? Truth is: It never 
happened.
How
 about the story that your mom told you: if you swallow your gum it will
 take 7 years to digest? Nope. That's not true either. (And if you ever 
swallowed any of that fluorescent Gator Gum, you already knew that.)
The Road to Success
How about this depiction?

It's also a myth!
It
 looks like the road to success goes in one direction and the road to 
failure goes in the opposite direction.  This can create what we call 
the "sucker's choice".  Either you have to choose success OR you have to choose failure. The sucker's choice is rarely the correct perspective.
It's
 another one of those myths which won't add value to your life. It is 
simply not the truth and will probably take away value from your life. If
 you continue to believe this IS the road sign of life, you can 
unintentionally create a sabotaging mental habit or mindset that keeps 
you from your success, your goals, and your dreams.
The road to success is paved with failures.
 Failure is the price that you pay for your success.  If you spend your 
time trying to avoid failure, you will get what you pay for. You will 
probably be standing still or going in the same vicious circle you've 
been going in for years.
The course you take to success WILL have failure stops along the way. The real question for you is: how effectively do you manage those failures?
