Ellis Orlan, BA, CPA, SF Partnership LLP, Toronto, ON, CYBF Mentor, eorlan@sfgroup.ca

In the words of Sir Winston Churchill, ‘success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm’.

To truly succeed, one must fail first and fail plenty. This might be difficult to accept, as failing is emotionally difficult, hard to overcome and daunting to confront. The truth is, everyone has failed and failed miserably. Pioneers and innovators have all experienced immense disappointments throughout their existence. Did you know that J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, at one point had nothing and no idea how she was going to find the money to provide for her children? What if she hadn’t pulled through and acted on her vision?

Failure has great value because it provides a lesson that will help you better succeed. That is why one should never be afraid of failing, because there is nothing to fear. We all experience it. We’ve all failed and guess what, we will continue to do so, because we absolutely need to succeed.

It is important to accept when you have failed and never let past failures haunt you. Accept it and move on! Know that you are not the first to fail – everyone has faced this. Also, accept that you will fail in the future and be prepared for this. But ‘accepting’ is very different than ‘expecting’!

Remember, the biggest hurdle that keeps people from succeeding is the fear of failure. Knowing that failing won’t destroy you is so empowering that simply having that frame of mind increases your chances of success even more!

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