The journey of life is filled with hills and valleys. More valleys than hills if you must know.

Here are some wonderful things I’ve learned along the way during my adventures thus far:

• You will fail more times than you will ever succeed
• Failing at something doesn’t make you a failure
• Succeeding at something doesn’t make you a success
• It really has nothing to do with what comes your way
• Avoiding a problem does not solve the problem, it only makes it come back later, and it’s much worse than before
• You were made with 2 ears and 1 mouth – you should listen twice as much as you talk
• Just because you succeeded at something, doesn’t mean you don’t keep moving forward
• Just because you failed at something, doesn’t mean you don’t keep moving forward
• Quitting is never an option
• If you don’t like what you see, change the scenery

I’ve failed at just about everything in one way, shape, or form. My success is knowing I’ll never settle. I’ll never stop moving forward. I’ll never stop trying. I’ll never stop doing. I’ll never stop.

If there is nothing else you remember, remember this.

Those who succeed aren’t the ones who have learned how to not get knocked down, they’ve learned how to get back up every time they’ve got knocked down.

I shared this earlier, but thought it only appropriate to include in this blog. In the last installment of the ‘Rocky’ movies, Rocky gives a very brief speech to his son about winning and being a winner. I don’t know about you, but I think he hits the nail on the head.

There is education in all that we do. Whether a good experience or bad, something is always learned. And to learn is always good.

When did failure first teach you?

I’m sorry, let me rephrase that, when did you first fail at something? How old were you?

When was the last time you failed at something? How old were you?

For me (and most others) failure educated you with its lessons at an early age. Some earlier than others, but failure visited my doorstep and sat on my lap at a very early age.

I honestly can’t pinpoint my very FIRST encounter with failure, I can however tell you that failure had quite a presence during my sporting activities.

It surfaced during those ‘pick-up’ games of tag, or hide-and-seek. It reared its ugly head during those games of backyard football, baseball, dodge ball, wiffle ball, tennis ball, soccer, etc. And it slapped me in the face many a times when friends of mine would spout off, ‘let’s race’.

Failures vast educational capabilities has reached the farthest edges of my life, edges that I never knew existed until recently.

I owe a great deal to my friend failure. At first it was all about the competitive nature of youth activity and organized sport. But somehow it seeped into other aspects of my life. Hell it’s sprinkled throughout ALL aspects of my life.

Thanks to my friend failure:

• I learned how to make and maintain friendships.
• I learned how hard work in and out of the classroom actually had a purpose, and that purpose was success.
• I learned that some of the best education comes from making a mistake and then correcting it the next time around.
• I learned that just because I want something, does not mean I will get it. Hard work always comes with a price.
• I learned that anything and everything gained or loss comes with a price.

The single most important lesson I learned from failure was this:

Failing and failure are not something that I am, only something I’ve done. My failures do not define me, its what I do after those failures that define me. My failure and failures teach me how NOT to do something, and help me get one step closer to what I’m wanting.

So I ask you again, when did my friend failure first visit you? It seems to me that failure is a pretty important educational tool. It plants the seeds of determination and sacrifice while toughening the spirit for better and harder things to come.

I only pose these questions and ask how failure can be a bad thing, because apparently there are parents and educators out there who think competition and failure may be a bad thing for our youth? That having the youth ‘fail’ could be a detriment to their development??

I ask you again, when did my friend failure first visit your doorstep?

Do you think my friend failure will be back anytime soon?

I do.

Life = Risk
This short video hits the nail on the head. Your success is never determined by how many times you ‘made it’, but how many times you never gave up.

Failing to plan is planning to fail

Yes, we’ve all heard it before. And yes, we all are a lil’ tired of hearing it. But sometimes some things are true even if you don’t want to believe them.

There are an infinite Graham’s Number of excuses as to why you can’t seem to lose those extra pounds. Everyone fails at ‘dieting’ for one reason or another. Everyone fails at improving their lifestyle for just about the same reasons. I don’t think I need to remind you – "You can’t out-train a bad diet". So it’s about you and eating.

It all boils down to one reason in my humble opinion. Failing to Plan.

Planning eliminates possibilities. Planning minimizes exposure. Planning can and does make the effort and work much easier to do. The long journey that seems to have no end in sight will seem shorter and much more fulfilling with planning.

And it’s not just planning. It has to be a solid, genuinely given effort. Planning cannot be taken lightly, nor can it be hit-or-miss. Planning must become part of you.

Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance

Not only must you plan, but plan properly, and plan prior to any and everything that you can.

In order to eliminate the possibility of binge eating, or succumbing to those tempting cravings, or surrendering to any exposure to ‘work-time sweets’ you need to plan. And you need to plan ahead.

You KNOW that someone will bring in cookies (sweets) to work. You KNOW someone will want to order take-out for lunch. You KNOW someone will bring some extra ‘sweet-snacks’ from the local ‘suga-shack’ (a.k.a. Dunkin’ Donuts, Bakery Pastries, Ice Cream, Candy, etc.)

You also KNOW how you react (Piss Poor Performance). You also KNOW if you’ll give in to the ‘suga’. You also KNOW if you have it in you to eat ‘only one’.

No one knows your life better than you. No one knows your habits better than you. So plan ahead for what’s in store, and plan ahead for how you’ll react.

Prepare your meals the day before. Hell, prepare your meals as far ahead of schedule as you can, and as far ahead as the food will allow (nobody wants to eat spoiled food). Some individuals will plan a week at a time. Only you can decide what is best for you.

Prepare for your reactions as well. If you are a snacker, and are weak-willed when it comes to that ‘suga’ then bring your own snacks. It’s amazing how you can satisfy a sweet tooth urge with some fruit or other low-calorie food choices.

Before you know it, you’ll no longer have ‘weak moments’. A weak moment only happens if you don’t prepare ahead of time.

The more you prepare, the less frequently those moments will happen.

This particular habit of planning has a way of repeatedly rewarding you. Rewarding you immediately and long term. The more you plan, the more you make planning a part of your psyche, the easier it will become. Soon it will be come an automatic thing like brushing your teeth.

After a while the automatic planning will turn and transform into control. Your efforts to plan will empower you to gain control over you. You will no longer be the passenger, reacting to a given situation. You will become the driver, choosing your path and simply taking it.

Piss Poor Performance is not who you are, only something you do.

Carpe Diem

Courtesy of Damn Cool Pics