Roy Sutton

21 thought-provoking quotes about being different

10/20/2019 by Roy Sutton

Anyone who has ever tried to be different will know how hard it can be to be accepted by others. Anyone who is different in some way will know too.

The human condition has a fundamental need to feel secure and people who are not a reflection of ourselves can make us feel insecure.

So being or trying to be different is definitely a tough gig. However being different is a worthy aim.

In fact there’s a lot to be said for standing out in the crowd. As the Arab proverb suggests, “be contrary; be known.”

For every reader who likes to stand out in the crowd, here are 21 thought-provoking quotes about being different.

Quotes about being different:

Never be afraid to be different. An original is more valuable than a copy. ~Roy Sutton
When you’re the only sane person, you look like the only insane person. ~Criss Jami
So you’re a little weird? Work it! A little different? Own it! Better to be a nerd than one of the herd! ~Mandy Hale
To be successful one has to be one of three bees; the queen bee, the hardest working bee, or the bee that does not fit in. ~Suzy Kassem
When you do something different, you are either blessed or cursed. ~Mehmet Murat ildan
Everybody wants to make a difference, but nobody is willing to be different. ~Andy Andrews
Tell them a lie big enough and they’ll worship you as a sage. Tell them a truth big enough and they’ll mock you. ~Abhijit Naskar
The person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen before. ~Albert Einstein
We spend so long trying to be what other people want, that when we look in the mirror, we see a stranger. ~Anthony T. Hincks
We must never be afraid to be a sign of contradiction for the world. ~Mother Teresa
Ordinary people are products of their environment and fit in. Artists transcend their environment and stand out. ~Oliver Gaspirtz
Being different and thinking different makes a person unforgettable. History does not remember the forgettable. ~Suzy Kassem
A person who is truly cool is a work of art. And remember, original works of art cost exponentially higher than imitations. Just take a look at the coolest people in history. They will always be a part of history for being extremely original individuals, not imitations. ~Suzy Kassem
Go ahead and be ordinary. Eccentricity is extraordinary. ~ JT Sanz
When you want to do something that isn’t the ‘norm’ you will be made to feel like you have a problem and if you hear it often enough then you start to believe it too. ~Radhika Vaz
Strategy is about making choices; it’s about deliberately choosing to be different. ~Michael Porter
I’m different than everyone else because everyone else is not me. ~ Julian Aguilar
The psychology of individual creativity is about at least three different things. First, creativity is about thinking differently. Second, creativity is about feeling differently. Third, creativity is about focusing, or committing, differently. ~Max McKeown
The beauty of life is to be different. Set yourself apart from the crowd, and flourish into the person you were meant to be. ~Julian Aguilar
Originality is the key to being memorable. ~Suzy Kassem
About Differences: Those who would believe in a higher power by whatever name must also believe that same higher power made all things. On that basis, people of good character will recognize that some people are different from ourselves, in colour, gender, speech, opinion, lifestyle, and in other ways. Different is not an evaluation. As I taught my children while they were growing up, “Different is only different.” Celebrate differences for therein lies the basis for much of what we learn in life. ~James Osborne

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What’s the real cost of television? You’ll be surprised by the answer

10/19/2019 by Roy Sutton

Have you ever considered what the real cost of television is and the effect it has on your life?

When you’ve worked hard all day, I’m sure you find it so easy when you arrive home in the evening, to have a bite to eat and then relax in front of the television? You just passively watch whatever’s on offer because it’s your time now, right?

If you’ve worked hard all day you deserve a rest, surely?

Anyway you’ve got a nice television and it cost you a lot of money, right?

So you want to make the most of it, don’t you?

If you’ve spent all that money, why would you want to waste such a fine piece of technology by not using it? Surely that’s a reasonable argument?

Well it’s an argument of course but have you ever given serious thought to the real cost of that television to you? How much do you think it really costs?

Now I’m not referring to the purchase price tag in the store when you made your purchase, though even that’s not insignificant.

I’m actually referring to the opportunity cost of the time wasted passively watching television. Never forget, time is money. And time wasted watching television could have been used doing something that would have been far more profitable, in the longer-term at least.

Deep down I’m suspect, in your heart, you know that dear reader, don’t you? Nevertheless, knowing and acting on the knowledge you possess are two different things.

How often do you hear people say things like, I’d love to earn more money; I’d love to have a better job; I’d love to learn another language; or I’d love to learn to play the piano; and so on. Then you’ll hear them say, if only I had the time.

Do you recognise yourself there dear reader?

The simple fact is when it comes to time, we all have exactly the same amount, 168 hours each week. It all comes down to how you choose to use and prioritize your time.

Successful people recognise that time is their most precious resource and they use it wisely.

People who succeed have a genuine sense of purpose and they’re very focused on their goals. They know what they want and they have a plan as to how they’ll get it.

Do you have a genuine sense of purpose dear reader?

Have you got a clear idea on where you’re going?

Do you know what it is you want out of life?

Perhaps life is something that’s just happening to you and you’re just going with the flow? That’s an acceptable strategy if you’re willing to accept whatever life dictates.

However you must ask yourself, are you really happy with your life and the share of life’s pie you’ve been given so far or do you want more?

Well let me tell you this dear reader. For things to improve, you must first learn to use your time wisely. Remember; time is more important than money because you can always get more money but you can’t get more time.

Secondly, you need a clear sense of direction and your own plan for how you’ll get to where you want to go. Without direction and a plan, you’ll be destined to be used as part of someone else’s plan. However that’ll only be for as long as you can serve some useful purpose to them.

Once you no longer serve any purpose to them you’ll cease to be part of their plan. And then you’ll be scratching around looking for another way to earn a living. The world is an unforgiving place, that’s for sure.

Work is just doing stuff for other people in exchange for money.

However we don’t just get paid for the hour. Our pay is dictated by the value we put into that hour.

The more value we can add the more we’ll earn.

And to add more value we must be increasing our knowledge and skills constantly. We reap what we sow. If we fail to reap, we cannot sow. And how can you reap if you spend your life passively watching television. Time wasted cannot be recovered.

In my experience we get out of life exactly what we put in. The more we put in the more we’ll get out.

The obvious question is, how can you get more out of life?

If you’re happy to go through life passively watching television but struggling to make a decent living then that’s fine, if that’s what you want. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Waste as much of your time as you like.

However if you want more than that then it’s time to start designing the life you want and avoiding time-wasters like television.

It’s time to decide where you’re going; what you want out of life; and it’s time to develop a your own plan for success. And above all, it’s time to stop wasting your time.

You can be a winner. Anybody can. It does require some effort of your part and a clear sense of direction though. That’s a given.

A great source of inspiration:

However if you’re going to be a winner, in addition to using your time wisely, you’ll also need a constant source of inspiration to keep you motivated.

One of my greatest sources of inspiration is the late, great, business philosopher Jim Rohn. You’ll find plenty of videos featuring the Jim Rohn on YouTube.

However you might also consider buying one of Jim Rohn’s audio recordings to listen to in your car or on your smartphone or iPad.

One Jim Rohn audio recording that I can highly recommend is The Art of Exceptional Living.

I bought my own copy of this audio recording a couple of years ago but I still listen to it when I’m driving and each time I listen I get something new out of it.

This audio recording really is an exceptional source of inspiration in my opinion.

You can check it out on Amazon if you CLICK HERE.

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How will your life be measured? Here’s what matters most

10/18/2019 by Roy Sutton

How will your life be measured? A philosophical question perhaps but an interesting one nevertheless.

Some time ago, I attended the funeral of someone whom I’d known quite well professionally but not at all socially. Someone I liked and respected but I wouldn’t claim to have known them well. Nevertheless funerals are a time to reflect on someone’s life. A time to consider the impact they’ve had on other people throughout their lives.

The funeral service was held at a large, traditional church in London and it was absolutely crowded.

Listening to the eulogy and associated readings I began to appreciate just how much my late colleague had meant to so many people. It’s fair to say that she meant a lot to people. The lives of so many people had clearly been blessed by her presence in them.

This experience really made me think.

So in life, what really matters most?

As human beings we’re all driven to achieve and leave our mark on life before we pass on.

However we do tend to measure our impact on life in terms of careers and money. With those things it’s fairly easy to keep score, wouldn’t you agree dear reader?

Obviously careers provide tangible evidence of achievement, or so it seems.

So climbing the greasy pole and increasing our wealth tend to be the measures we use when we consider the idea of success. Nevertheless as I sat listening that day I had to ask myself, are these things the most appropriate measure of the lives we lead?

Anything we do that only has a long-term payoff we tend not to measure because there’s no immediate evidence of achievement. We can’t see the immediate impact of the small things we do, so we don’t believe they matter much.

However I realised that day that they do matter. In fact they matter a great deal.

It’s all in the little things we do:

A random act of kindness might not mean much to us but to the recipient of our action it could mean the world. It could have had a profound effect on that individual. And it might prove to be a life-changing experience for that person.

So, how will any of us be remembered?

When our lives have passed, how will they talk about us at our funerals?

People won’t talk about the size of our house or our car but they will talk about how we made them feel. They won’t talk about the importance of our jobs but they will mention how we helped them at a difficult time in their lives.

Perhaps they’ll talk about how we mentored them and how they’re a better person because of the impact we had on their lives. Maybe they’ll say they enjoyed our company and they’ll talk about how they looked forward to seeing us whenever we were around. Perhaps they’ll just mention how we made them smile.

When you think about it, why would we want to be remembered in any other way?

Material possessions are meaningless:

Let’s face it material possessions are meaningless. Equally successful careers are as much a reflection of good fortune as they are of anything we actually did to justify them.

That’s not the case when it comes to the impact we have on the lives of others.

The help we give; the kindness we show; that’s all down to us and our own actions day-to-day.

So how many people we’ve helped seems to me like a much better measure of success than the size of the car we drive or the size of the house in which we live.

Real success in life comes down to the difference we make. How we’ve touched the lives of other people.

Certainly that’s how I think we’ll be remembered by those who knew us, however much we’re focused on careers, money and material possessions.

How great would it be to be remembered fondly and with respect by all who crossed our paths during our lives?

How will your life be measured?

I remembered my thoughts that day at the funeral when I stumbled upon this video of a presentation given by Clay Christensen at TEDxBoston.

It offers a great perspective on how your life will be measured.

I recommend you watch this video as it’s well worth a little bit of your time.

And after you’ve watched it, I would suggest you reflect on this question, “Should the measure of our lives be just about money and achievement or should it be more about the lives we’ve touched and the people whose lives are better for us having been in them?”

How do you want to be remembered dear reader?

For me life’s measure should be in terms of how I’ve touched the lives of other people and not money, career and the size of my house.

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How to love the life you live

10/17/2019 by Roy Sutton

Do you love the life you live? Do you enjoy your work? Life should never be just about work but it’s a big part of our lives, so it does have an effect on how we feel about ourselves.

Do you get up each morning feeling inspired by what you’ll be doing during the day ahead?

A good question to ask yourself is the one Steve Jobs asks in the video below, “If you knew that today was the last day of your life would you still be happy doing what you have to do today?”

Knowing we will die one day reminds us that our time is precious and we should use it wisely.

Life is short and none of us know when our final moment will arrive. So we must follow our heart and focus our energy on work that matters to you.

If your work matters to you then you’ll do it well. And if you do it well you’ll make a difference. Make a difference and you’ll leave a legacy. Do this and you’ll love the life you live.

All of this is easier said than done of course. Many people experience a life without any real sense of satisfaction. Far too many people experience a lifetime of disappointment and regret. And too many people don’t love the life they live.

However it doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to accept a less than satisfactory life.

If you’re life is unsatisfactory then you need to change.

A good place to start is by listening to the inspiring observations from the late Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, contained in the video ‘If today were the last day of my life’ included below. His words are thought-provoking and powerful. I found this video truly inspirational and I recommend it to you.

How to love the life you live:

Between now and dead would you be happy to continue with the life you have right now?

No?

Then you must change and keep changing until you love the life you live.

Never accept second best because life is far too short.

Remember: Whilst you have to make a living, you also have to make a life too. Have no regrets, start making the life you want to live as quickly as possible. It’s later than you think.

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How to know your life purpose in 5 minutes

10/16/2019 by Roy Sutton

How to know your life purpose in 5 minutes? Now there’s an interesting question. If you ask yourself five simple questions, you can identify your purpose and with that knowledge you can succeed.

If you speak with successful people they’ll usually have a strong sense of their life purpose.

However most people in life don’t know anything about their life purpose at all.

Far too many people in this world are unhappy with their lives because for whatever reason they feel they haven’t made the best use of their natural talent.

Too many people that I meet in their 40s and 50s seem to feel their lives have been mostly wasted so far.

Now I’m not referring to complete losers here.

I’m talking about people who actually appear to have what we all crave, i.e. an affluent lifestyle and well-paid jobs.

However, just because they’ve made some money doesn’t mean they feel they’ve made the best of their lives.

Money’s important to life of course but having a sense of purpose and a feeling that we’re making a difference to other people is also very important if we want to be happy with our lives. And surely we all want to be happy?

Do you know life purpose dear reader? Would you say you’re happy with your life?

I believe strongly that we’ve all put on this earth for a reason.

We all have our part to play and we all have a unique contribution to make.

Certainly we all have a unique set of talents.

So surely if we know what we have to offer we’re closer to knowing our life purpose?

If what we do is congruent with our life purpose then we can make a real difference to the world around us and to other people too.

How to know your life purpose:

The question is, where to start?

Well, if you have absolutely no idea of what your life purpose is then a little self-analysis is a good place to start. However what questions should you be asking yourself?

In the video below from TEDx Talks Adam Leipzig, he offers some inspired thinking on how to find your life purpose.

In the video Adam suggests some simple questions to ask yourself that will quickly lead you to a sense of what your life purpose should be.

I found this video inspirational and really useful and I recommend it to you.

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Why you must have the courage to step out of your comfort zone

10/15/2019 by Roy Sutton

If your aim is growth and achievement then playing it safe is unlikely to be the right strategy for you. You must face your fears dear reader. You must have the courage to step out of your comfort zone because we grow by taking on a challenge and overcoming a challenge is always at the heart of any achievement worthy of note.

A life worth living is a life where you feel fully engaged. And to feel truly energized and engaged with life you must stretch yourself to the limit of your potential? Needless to say, you can only find the limit of your potential if you step out of your comfort zone.

Sadly many people, if not most, never have the courage to step outside their comfort zone. They prefer to live where they feel safe.

Staying within your comfort zone is fine of course, if that’s what you want, but you can’t really call it living, can you? It’s existing perhaps but not really living.

You cannot grow from within the safety of your comfort zone. That’s simply a fact.

You’ll find that life begins to have a real buzz when you take the first step beyond your comfort zone. That’s what you might call living on the edge. Inevitably it’s scary of course but you really do begin to feel energised. It’s where you’ll feel a real sense of exhilaration.

Yes of course, it involves risk, that’s true. However risk and reward go hand in hand. No risk; not reward.

Stepping outside your comfort zone doesn’t guarantee success and of course you might fail. In fact you’ll certainly experience some failures along the way, because everyone does.

Experiencing failures is an inevitable part of chasing success because success lies on the far side of failure. However to get to second base and beyond, you must be prepared to take your foot off first base.

Successful people don’t always make the right decisions. However they’re willing to challenge themselves and they’re willing to persist long after everyone else has given up. They may fail but they learn from failure and they use what they’ve learned to work towards achieving their goals.

Dear reader, let me tell you something. You have enormous potential and you can achieve anything if you want it badly enough and you’re prepared to work hard for it.

Certainly you’re capable of achieving great things.

However you must set yourself challenging goals and you must be prepared to step out of your comfort zone. If you can face that discomfort and keep on going then you really can become the person you’re destined to be.

It’s easier to stay within your comfort zone of course and you’ll feel safe that way but nothing beats the feeling of winning and achieving those challenging goals you’ve set yourself. A life of safety first can be really dull.

If every obstacle must first be overcome before you start then you’ll never achieve anything.

Playing it safe is actually a bigger risk than stepping beyond your comfort zone.

By playing it safe you take the risk that you’ll never experience the satisfaction of real achievement. And it’s always better to try and fail than it is to spend your life wondering what might have been.

So go on, live a little.

Step out of your comfort zone right now and take that tiger for a ride. You’ll be glad you did.

Building the courage to step out of your comfort zone:

To reinforce the message in this theme, you might find the embedded video from Brian Tracy inspiring.

In it Brian offers some wise words on building the courage to break out of your comfort zone. It’s well worth your time and I recommend it to you.

Further listening:

If you found the video useful then you might be keen to hear more from Brian Tracy.

I think he’s a fantastic motivational speaker and I listen to his audio programmes all the time.

One I can highly recommend is:-

Eat that Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.

I bought my own personal copy of this one about two years ago and I’ve found it extremely inspiring and useful. I still listen to it frequently when I’m driving and every time I listen I learn something new.

It is definitely worth adding to your own personal development library. Click on the link you check it out.

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Building personal branding for success

10/14/2019 by Roy Sutton Leave a Comment

Personal branding says something about you. Personal branding for success is something which you should take seriously, if your aim is to be successful.

How you present yourself to the world is being judged all the time and people will draw conclusions about you based simply on their perception of you.

That may not seem fair but in my experience it tends to be true. And reputations can often be built largely based on other peoples’ perception of you.

So, is personal branding something that matters to you dear reader?

In your opinion, does it matter what you look like; how you dress; how you speak; or what people see in your digital footprint on social media and elsewhere?

Does your reputation matter to you?

Perhaps you believe that the only thing that matters is the quality of the work you do?

If that’s true then you may not see the need to worry about your personal branding.

However you really are being judged all of the time, whether you like it or not.

How often have you walked into an open plan office area looking for a manager you’ve not met and yet you have no trouble spotting who he or she is immediately? You just can’t miss them can you? There’s just something about them that says, I am the manager. That’s personal branding.

It’s the same thing with social media.

How you conduct yourself within your digital footprint will speak volumes about you and it will have an impact on how you’re perceived by others.

A silly remark on social media about other people or the latest news can prove very costly and may have implications in future years because it could suggest something about your judgement, or lack of it. Jobs have been lost and people have been forced to resign over ill-judged comments made on social media years before.

So you have to ask yourself, do I really want to be successful in my chosen field?

If you do then you must ensure that your personal branding is consistent with your ambition. To be the part, you must look the part in every respect.

You must also promote yourself in the right way at every opportunity.

Self-promotion is important because it’s all about selling yourself and making sure you’re perceived by the world in the way you’d prefer to be perceived.

If you don’t sell yourself and create the right image for yourself then no one else is going to do it for you, that’s for sure.

The good news is that with WordPress, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media channels, it’s never been easier to promote yourself, create the right image, build relationships and tell the world what it is you have to offer.

Building a personal brand:

In the video below, recorded at TEDxCMU 2011, Jacob Cass presents some interesting and useful ideas as to how you can go about building your personal brand.

This video will provide you with some useful tips and it’s well worth watching.

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What is grit and why is it important?

10/13/2019 by Roy Sutton Leave a Comment

What is grit? I’ve heard this word alot recently. And of course the obvious supplementary question is, why is it important?

I’m referring to a term used in psychology to represent a positive, non-cognitive personality trait based on an individual’s perseverance of effort combined with the passion for a particular goal and a powerful motivation to achieve it. Allow me to explain.

Have you ever noticed that the smartest people are not always the most successful? Obviously success can be defined in different ways but for most people their measure would usually revolve around money and prestige.

If we take money as the measure for success, then you’d think the smartest people would easily come out on top on that score, surely? Yet you’d be wrong.

We hear stories frequently about college professors who struggle financially whilst at the same time tradesmen like bricklayers and plumbers become millionaires. How can that be?

Surely the smartest people have a natural advantage? Well, actually they don’t.

The people with the real, innate advantage are those with this quality known as grit.

So exactly what is grit? It is an inner steeliness. It is courage and resolve. It is strength of character. It is drive and desire. It is passion and motivation. It is a willingness to persevere until the desired result is achieved. It is determination to achieve a goal and a willingness to take calculated risks.

It is a fact that doing well in life depends on much more than academic ability and your capacity to learn quickly and easily.

Having those qualities is useful of course but in the absence of grit you’d still be at a disadvantage.

Someone of average academic ability but with a shed-load of grit will be better placed to achieve real success in life.

People with grit intuitively recognize that life is a marathon not a sprint.

They’re willing to experience failure because they know that failure is a temporary outcome not a permanent position. And they’re willing to fail and then start over using the lessons they’ve learned from the experience.

So what’s the key to success? It’s the need to get grittier!

Angela Lee Duckworth makes this point admirably in this excellent TEDxTalk video and it’s well worth a few minutes of your time. It’s an interesting video and I think she nails the point perfectly.

That’s what I think but what is your opinion?

Could there be such an easy answer or is it all much more complicated? I’d be interested to hear your views.

Grit: The power of passion and perseverance:

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How we are damaged by our schooldays

10/12/2019 by Roy Sutton

Could we have been damaged by our schooldays? Is that even possible?

Were they the best days of our lives, as we’re encouraged to believe, or could our schooldays have been detrimental to our mental well-being and our self-esteem?

An interesting question. So let’s just think about that for a minute.

Certainly many people will have had mostly good experiences during their schooldays, I’m sure.

However there will also be some for whom their schooldays will have left them mentally scarred and with a sense of failure. That much is philosophically self-evident, surely?

For instance, perhaps at school the people to which I refer never quite achieved the grades their parents or teachers thought they should have done?

Perhaps they were last to be picked for a sports team, on a regular basis?

In either case, how would such experiences make have made them feel? What impact would they have had on their mental well-being?

Perhaps they felt, not quite good enough? A little bit bruised and embarrassed by their inability to achieve what they believed was expected of them?

Adults may have thought that by putting pressure on them it would motivate them to do well, yet it probably just left then feeling a little bit inadequate possibly?

Do you recognise such feelings dear reader?

The problem with the school experience is that the age range of our classmates is spread over a whole year. And that’s more significant than it first appears to be I think.

Someone whose birthday is at the beginning of September will be a year older than someone whose birthday is towards the end of August, despite both being in the same year academically.

Now it might not seem much but one year at that time in our lives makes a huge difference in terms of our development, both mentally and physically.

So what does this mean?

It means that if your birthday is at the end of the school year then you’re at a significant disadvantage relative to some of your much older classmates.

And that disadvantage carries with you right through the school years if you’re affected by it.

And it’s a disadvantage that extends not just to your academic studies but also to sport and physical activity too.

And it’s not just the fact that you’re behind in terms of your physical and mental development. It is a fact that success breeds positive reinforcement.

So older students benefit from the constant reinforcement and encouragement of ‘Well Done!‘ whilst younger students struggle to keep up, unless they’re exceptionally gifted.

Even if people are of above average ability for their age they can still be at a disadvantage relative to older classmates during their schooldays, particularly if they too are of above average ability.

Inevitably at school people are compared to their peers and statistics show that the older ones tend to do better because of an inherent age advantage. That’s true with sport as well as academic subjects.

If younger students appear to perform less well then that is often interpreted that as them being not quite as good as their older contemporaries.

And few people, least of all our parents, will have recognised that the system essentially does not favour the younger members of the class. It puts them at a disadvantage.

The obvious question then is how many people have gone through life feeling like a bit of a loser due to their experiences of a school system which tends to work against them simply because of the month in which they were born?

And how many people never fully recover from the inevitable damage done to their confidence and self-esteem during those all too important developmental years?

More importantly our school days not only affect how we feel about ourselves. They also impact on how others perceive us to be as well.

A reputation for being a ‘Straight A’ student beats being a bit of an academic ‘also ran’. No one questions whether the former had an inherent advantage over the latter.

And how we’re perceived by others does matter because their perception of us often results in all the negative talk we often hear whenever we express ambition, which can also affect our self-esteem.

I’m sure you know what I mean, as no doubt many readers will be familiar with the experience. Something like:-

You: “Oh, I’d like to be a doctor.”

Parent: “Oh, don’t be ridiculous, with your grades?”

And so on.

People will always give you reasons why you’re not good enough. When what you actually need is encouragement. With encouragement you could make it in whatever pursuit that makes you feel truly energised.

If you’re someone who experienced disadvantage for whatever reason then let me tell you something. You’re as good as anyone and you should acknowledge that to yourself, constantly.

Schooldays represent a very small portion of a life and they’re significant only in so far as they are one on many experiences we’ll have in life. Certainly they don’t define you.

If your schooldays were a good experience then fine. If not, so what?

You can still achieve your ambitions with sufficient hard work and determination.

It doesn’t matter whether others believe you can do it, just as long as you believe you can do it.

And remember; there’s no such thing as a failure. That label does not belong on people.

Failure is just an unwanted outcome and a learning opportunity. It’s not a person.

You have enormous potential. We all do.

Everyone is capable of achieving much more than they could ever think possible. With determination and hard work we can all achieve great things.

Your attitude is much more important than your aptitude when it comes to achieving your goals in life. Believe you can and you will.

However you feel about your past, it’s not too late to become something more than you are currently.

You should embrace failure as nothing more than an opportunity for learning. It does not define you, and nor should it.

Recognise that just because you didn’t set the world on fire during your schooldays it doesn’t mean you can’t achieve great things now.

Plenty of ‘Straight A’ students fail to achieve anything significant after they’ve left education behind. Whereas plenty of the less academically successful go on to achieve great things in life.

It’s not about how many times you get knocked down that counts but how many times you can get back up and keep going until you get to where you want to be.

Victory is sweeter when it has been achieved following the experience of defeat.

You cannot achieve anything without the experience of at least the occasional failure along the way.

Before anyone was a success, they all started out as beginners and they all made mistakes. Anyone who suggests otherwise is either lying or deluded.

If you really want to succeed, then work hard, make mistakes and learn the lessons as you go. If you’re determined you’ll find a way to achieve your goals or realise your dreams.

Don’t be overwhelmed by any perceived failure. It doesn’t have to be fatal, nor does it imply that you’re not capable of achieving great things.

Never, ever give up until you get to where you want to be. Success can be yours if you want it badly enough. And remember this; it is better to try and fail than never to have tried at all.

Never be afraid to try because there are only outcomes we didn’t want and lessons to be learned.

And repeat this mantra daily: I’m as good as anyone; I’m better than most; I will achieve great things; And nothing will stop me!

Get started now. What are you waiting for?

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Why you should let your child fail and make mistakes

10/11/2019 by Roy Sutton

Why you should let your child fail and make mistakes. Now that might sound counter-intuitive but it does actually make sense, if you think about it carefully.

Frequently children are taught that to fail is inherently a bad thing; something about which they should almost feel a sense of shame.

The adults around them presumably believe that this will in some way motivate them to work so hard that they don’t fail.

However failure is inevitable, at least occassionally.

So however well intentioned adults might be with this approach, in my opinion, the logic on which it’s based is at best misguided.

The problem is that it encourages children to adopt a strategy of not trying so they don’t fail. If they don’t try then they can’t fail, right?

Teach them this approach and kids have an easy way to neutralise any problem in future. Just don’t bother in the first place. But how can that be a good thing?

If they don’t try, how can they ever master any skill, or indeed anything?

If they don’t rise to a challenge, how can they ever grow in character?

No one ever started out as a master of anything. It doesn’t matter which line of work you consider or which subject you study, everyone starts out as a complete beginner.

And it doesn’t matter how talented you are, you’ll still make mistakes and experience failures along the road to mastering your craft.

However the lessons you learn from failure are far more valuable to you than anything anyone can tell you. You can read textbooks as many times as you like but there’s no substitute for real experience.

When you get your fingers burned you never forget how it happened and why.

Success is never achieved without some failures along the way.

Every successful man or woman will tell you that. It really is inevitable and it’s all part of life and learning. It’s how we gain that valauble commodity known as experience.

There’s actually no such thing as failure.

There are only outcomes we didn’t want. And every time we try, we refine our skills until eventually we get it right.

What we refer to as failure is nothing more than a form of feedback.

And of course trying something and failing does not make you a failure. Failure’s an outcome, it’s never a person.

As the old saying goes, “It’s better to try and fail than never to try at all.“

Put simply, you cannot fail. Either you’ll succeed or you’ll learn a lesson but either way you’ll win.

You only become a failure when you stop trying.

So if you have children, encourage them to do their best and accept that they will fail occasionally. Tell them that it doesn’t matter as long as they make sure they learn any lessons that follow from any given undesirable outcome.

Make sure they understand that to fail is positive because they’ll learn valuable lessons and they’ll get better and grow the more they try. Children should never fear failure.

Just encourage them not to give up and make sure they never stop believing in themselves. All young people need encouragement more than they need critics.

The most important message to your child is that they are as good as anyone and, if they try and keep trying, they’ll succeed eventually.

And if after trying hard it doesn’t work out for them, for whatever reason, then at least they’ll know that they gave it their best shot and they won’t spend their lives wondering what might have been.

Teach your children that failure is an inevitable part of life and learning and it should never be feared.

If you want your children to succeed in life then encourage them to fail.

Encourage them to have a go and to keep trying until they get to where they want to be.

Remember: Kids should not fear failure but neither should you either.

Wherever you are on life’s journey, never be afraid to have a go either. You’re as good as anyone too.

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