Attitude Adjustment 9 positive principles to help you turn failure into success.

Wayne Allyn Root started and failed at several businesseswhile still in his 20s. When he decided to become a national sportsanchor, he was rejected by hundreds of TV networks. But Rootpersevered and today is a sports anchor for USA Networks and asuccessful 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 positiveattitude and turn failure into success.

1. The Possibility Principle: One of my corporatemotivation clients has a little girl in third grade. She loves tosit on her father's lap when he reads his motivational booksaloud. The father never imagined that his little girl reallyunderstood what all those positive thinkers were saying.

Recently, he got the surprise of his life. His daughter returnedfrom school with her latest exam. She had correctly answered nineout of 10 questions. Her error had been in defining the word"impossible." Her answer was "There is no such word.Nothing is impossible!"

If only all my adult students were so willing to grasp the ideaof unlimited potential! You, too, must understand that nothing isimpossible. 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 halfempty? 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 fourtimes more likely to become millionaires than those of us luckyenough to be born in America? What do you make of that statistic?The answer is actually quite simple: It's all aboutattitude!

Legal immigrants have overcome great hardship to get to America.They have often risked starvation, death and the loss of theirfamilies. America was their dream. They intently focused on thatdream 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. Theyhave been told over and over again that America's streets arepaved with gold, and they believe it. They believe it sodesperately, they create opportunity where there is none! Thisattitude empowers them to achieve.

3. The Lemonade Principle: This principle is all aboutturning lemons into lemonade. The word "no" is not animmovable obstacle to a thriver. It is simply an invitation to turnfailure and rejection into extraordinary success. Everyonefails--it is the ability to overcome failure that separatesthrivers (or successful failures) from the rest of us.

Let me give you an example. Experts predict America will losemore farm jobs in the next decade than any other occupation. Thereare abandoned grain silos all over the Farm Belt. But a companycalled Upper Limits in Bloomington, Illinois, found a way to turn anegative into a positive. They bought 14 abandoned silos and turnedthem into indoor climbing facilities. Now they get several hundredclimbers a week paying $10 each. That's turning rotten graininto a cash crop!

Life comes down to failure and rejection. Those who wallow intheir pain, who complain or who give up, are destined to livedisappointing lives. Those who take action and find creativesolutions 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 seeyourself, virtually without exception, is also the image you willproject to others. If you don't believe in you, why wouldanyone else? If you don't love you, why should anyone else? Ifyou don't think of yourself as a winner, who would pick you tojoin their team?

Let's be honest--extraordinary success just doesn't gohand in hand with depression, negativity, self-loathing andself-destructive behavior. If deep down inside you hate yourself,you'll find a way to ruin your success and happiness every timesomething good comes your way. If your goal is success, you mustthink of yourself as a success. You must expect success. You mustfeel deep down inside that you deserve success.

5. The Appreciation Principle: To be successful, you needto be positive and confident. To be confident, you must findreasons to be happy. You must go out of your way to appreciate thepositive things in your life. You must always see the glass as halffull--no matter how gloomy things seem, there's alwayssomething to be thankful for.

6. The Optimism Principle: While the AppreciationPrinciple is all about seeing the positives in your life, theOptimism Principle is all about seeing the positives in the worldaround you. We are bombarded daily by stories and images thatdepict the worst of society. Yes, there are gangbangers, rapists,murderers, carjackers and ruthless drug cartels. But good peoplestill outnumber the dysfunctional by 1,000 to 1.

We are blessed--for the first time in the history ofmankind--with the freedom to work from anywhere in the world. Withpersonal computers, faxes, pagers, cellular phones, laptops, e-mailand the Internet, I can earn a living in my "virtualoffice" overlooking the beach in Malibu or on a mountaintop inAspen! 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 ofpessimistic. Look for the good in others, in your life, in theworld around you. Your new and improved attitude will attractopportunities you never thought possible. Stop looking for theworst--I guarantee that if you're looking for the worst,you'll find it. Start looking for the best, and pretty soon itwill fill your life!

7. The Think Big Principle: There are dozens of examplesof [famous] individuals who went on to great success afterdevastating failure. But what else besides failure did all thesesuccessful failures have in common? They all lived by the Think BigPrinciple.

When Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill failed again andagain, they were still in a position to succeed big. Why? They wereplaying in the big leagues. At the highest levels of competition,losing still makes you a millionaire. But the key is to aimhigh.

When I look at many of my clients, I see a common mistake: Theyaim too low. If you're aiming for the curb and you miss,you'll be left in the gutter. Even if you succeed, what haveyou accomplished? Who wants to spend life at curb level?

But if you aim for the stars--if you strive to be the best atwhatever 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 timeand energy focusing on our limitations and weaknesses--our"pimples." We all have talents and, by the same token, weall have flaws. My advice is to find the things you're good atand the things you're not. Then immerse yourself in the onesthat 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 hissinging. 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 dowell. All you need is one talent. Build your life around thattalent. Ignore the rest. You'll have higher self-esteem and amore positive attitude.

9. The Preparation Principle: Life often comes down to afew precious moments of opportunity. Are you ready? When that onemoment presents itself, will you come up big?

It takes decades of practice and preparation to achieveovernight success. When you watch a concert pianist, is itGod-given natural talent you are viewing or two decades ofpractice? The latter, of course.

Don't get depressed because you're not as good as thatpianist. 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 aposition to capitalize big time.

Copyright(c) 1996 by Wayne Allyn Root. From The Joy ofFailure: How to Turn Failure, Pain, and Rejection IntoExtraordinary Success (Summit Publishing Group).