Wayne Allyn Root started and failed at several businesses
while still in his 20s. When he decided to become a national sports
anchor, he was rejected by hundreds of TV networks. But Root
persevered and today is a sports anchor for USA Networks and a
successful motivational speaker. In this excerpt from his new book,
The Joy of Failure (Summit Publishing Group), Root reveals the nine
"Power Principles" that helped him develop a positive
attitude and turn failure into success.
1. The Possibility Principle: One of my corporate
motivation clients has a little girl in third grade. She loves to
sit on her father's lap when he reads his motivational books
aloud. The father never imagined that his little girl really
understood what all those positive thinkers were saying.
Recently, he got the surprise of his life. His daughter returned
from school with her latest exam. She had correctly answered nine
out of 10 questions. Her error had been in defining the word
"impossible." Her answer was "There is no such word.
Nothing is impossible!"
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If only all my adult students were so willing to grasp the idea
of unlimited potential! You, too, must understand that nothing is
impossible. So what are you waiting for? Start dreaming big,
planning big, risking big, failing big--and achieving big!
2. The Positive Principle: Is the glass half full or half
empty? Life is all about attitude--how you choose to see things.
Let me give you a few examples.
Did you know that legal immigrants to the United States are four
times more likely to become millionaires than those of us lucky
enough to be born in America? What do you make of that statistic?
The answer is actually quite simple: It's all about
attitude!
Legal immigrants have overcome great hardship to get to America.
They have often risked starvation, death and the loss of their
families. America was their dream. They intently focused on that
dream for decades. Once they've turned that dream into reality,
they refuse to be stopped or denied.
Where others see problems, immigrants see only opportunity. They
have been told over and over again that America's streets are
paved with gold, and they believe it. They believe it so
desperately, they create opportunity where there is none! This
attitude empowers them to achieve.
3. The Lemonade Principle: This principle is all about
turning lemons into lemonade. The word "no" is not an
immovable obstacle to a thriver. It is simply an invitation to turn
failure and rejection into extraordinary success. Everyone
fails--it is the ability to overcome failure that separates
thrivers (or successful failures) from the rest of us.
Let me give you an example. Experts predict America will lose
more farm jobs in the next decade than any other occupation. There
are abandoned grain silos all over the Farm Belt. But a company
called Upper Limits in Bloomington, Illinois, found a way to turn a
negative into a positive. They bought 14 abandoned silos and turned
them into indoor climbing facilities. Now they get several hundred
climbers a week paying $10 each. That's turning rotten grain
into a cash crop!
Life comes down to failure and rejection. Those who wallow in
their pain, who complain or who give up, are destined to live
disappointing lives. Those who take action and find creative
solutions to their disappointments and challenges are thrivers.
Their reward is the life of their dreams.
4. The Self-Esteem Principle: The way you choose to see
yourself, virtually without exception, is also the image you will
project to others. If you don't believe in you, why would
anyone else? If you don't love you, why should anyone else? If
you don't think of yourself as a winner, who would pick you to
join their team?
Let's be honest--extraordinary success just doesn't go
hand in hand with depression, negativity, self-loathing and
self-destructive behavior. If deep down inside you hate yourself,
you'll find a way to ruin your success and happiness every time
something good comes your way. If your goal is success, you must
think of yourself as a success. You must expect success. You must
feel deep down inside that you deserve success.
5. The Appreciation Principle: To be successful, you need
to be positive and confident. To be confident, you must find
reasons to be happy. You must go out of your way to appreciate the
positive things in your life. You must always see the glass as half
full--no matter how gloomy things seem, there's always
something to be thankful for.
6. The Optimism Principle: While the Appreciation
Principle is all about seeing the positives in your life, the
Optimism Principle is all about seeing the positives in the world
around you. We are bombarded daily by stories and images that
depict the worst of society. Yes, there are gangbangers, rapists,
murderers, carjackers and ruthless drug cartels. But good people
still outnumber the dysfunctional by 1,000 to 1.
We are blessed--for the first time in the history of
mankind--with the freedom to work from anywhere in the world. With
personal computers, faxes, pagers, cellular phones, laptops, e-mail
and the Internet, I can earn a living in my "virtual
office" overlooking the beach in Malibu or on a mountaintop in
Aspen! The opportunities that lie before you and me are limitless.
Yet you're depressed and unhappy? Why?
Start thinking up reasons to be optimistic instead of
pessimistic. Look for the good in others, in your life, in the
world around you. Your new and improved attitude will attract
opportunities you never thought possible. Stop looking for the
worst--I guarantee that if you're looking for the worst,
you'll find it. Start looking for the best, and pretty soon it
will fill your life!
7. The Think Big Principle: There are dozens of examples
of [famous] individuals who went on to great success after
devastating failure. But what else besides failure did all these
successful failures have in common? They all lived by the Think Big
Principle.
When Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill failed again and
again, they were still in a position to succeed big. Why? They were
playing in the big leagues. At the highest levels of competition,
losing still makes you a millionaire. But the key is to aim
high.
When I look at many of my clients, I see a common mistake: They
aim too low. If you're aiming for the curb and you miss,
you'll be left in the gutter. Even if you succeed, what have
you accomplished? Who wants to spend life at curb level?
But if you aim for the stars--if you strive to be the best at
whatever you do--and you miss, you'll still land on the moon.
And if you hit, you've got the life of your dreams!
8. The Pimple Principle: Many of us spend too much time
and energy focusing on our limitations and weaknesses--our
"pimples." We all have talents and, by the same token, we
all have flaws. My advice is to find the things you're good at
and the things you're not. Then immerse yourself in the ones
that make you shine.
I doubt Whitney Houston has changed the oil in her limo lately.
I don't think Bill Gates will ever win a Grammy Award for his
singing. And I don't expect Donald Trump to make the U.S.
Olympic team. But so what?
Don't get down on yourself for the things you can't do
well. All you need is one talent. Build your life around that
talent. Ignore the rest. You'll have higher self-esteem and a
more positive attitude.
9. The Preparation Principle: Life often comes down to a
few precious moments of opportunity. Are you ready? When that one
moment presents itself, will you come up big?
It takes decades of practice and preparation to achieve
overnight success. When you watch a concert pianist, is it
God-given natural talent you are viewing or two decades of
practice? The latter, of course.
Don't get depressed because you're not as good as that
pianist. There's something in this world you were born to do.
Find it--and then give it everything you've got. Be prepared,
so that on the day opportunity presents itself, you'll be in a
position to capitalize big time.
Copyright(c) 1996 by Wayne Allyn Root. From The Joy of
Failure: How to Turn Failure, Pain, and Rejection Into
Extraordinary Success (Summit Publishing Group).