Have you ever thought about embracing failure?  I mean, to actually welcome it with open arms and appreciate it for it’s true beauty and mystery?  Have you ever been knocked off your feet… been screwed over by someone… lost it all… made huge mistakes… beat yourself up about things so much it makes you a walking-wreck-of-emotional-horror?

Have you ever been wounded so badly, you develop a fear that is so encompassing it stops you in your tracks and prevents you from getting back on the horse at all?  Have you ever had such a huge failure or mistake that you carry it with you everywhere?  I mean, does that mistake or problem or emotional scar follow you everywhere and all the time, even when you sleep and at every waken moment?

Do you have an emotional scar that’s so deep it seems permanent and handicaps you from achieving your dreams/goals — or even functioning at all?  Well, not only does everyone fail and has problems and adversities, but we all have one major thing in common with each other… we’re human.

You know that old saying that it’s not what happens to you that is important, but how you react to what happens that’s truly important?  I believe it’s true.  Your resolve to get back on the horse… your determination to push through adversities and face fears… shapes success and achievement.  Therefore, failure is a part of the footsteps towards success.  Your willingness to take leaps of faith, despite the chance of failure, shapes success.

You know that old saying, “to get the fruit, you must go out on the limb” or something like that… well I believe that too.  I call it a leap of faith.  Some may even call it taking a risk.  When people who reached 100 years of age were surveyed, one of the questions asked was what they regretted in their lives (looking back over those 100 years) and one of the most common answers was they regretted not risking more in their past.

Pretend for a moment you are 100 years old.  Your 1o1st birthday is next.  At any second, you could be gone from this planet.  That breath you just took in, could have been your last.  When you wake up in the morning, as a 100 year old, you’re thankful you get to see another morning on planet Earth.  You are 100 years old right now (for pretend — unless you really are 100 years old, then congrats on a long life journey).

Now, think back over your 100 years of life.  Don’t you wish you would have risked more??  Doesn’t those little pesky adversities and fears seem microscopic now?  I mean, think about the things that hold most people back from taking leaps of faith… those things dont seem so BIG now do they?  I mean, are you really afraid of what people will think now?  Are you really still worried about how you look on video… how well you write… how smart or good looking you are… about an accent you might have… about a lack of time to implement things?  NO, it should not feel so BIG  and so HARD to take action because of fears of continued failure.

Failure is just another opportunity to try again but better the next time around.  You see, many times, if you have true faith, failure can be an opportunity for something better.  Ever heard of the saying… “Thank God For unanswered prayers”?  Have you ever had something that seems bad happen, only to later find you are damn grateful that bad thing happened?

I mean, I wanted to be a pro baseball player.  Looking back now, maybe I would not have met my wife if that dream had come true.  Or, I remember not getting this one awesome job I applied for.  I really-really wanted it and when I did not get it, I was down and out, and completely upset.  I failed.

But, I’m now extremely grateful I did not get that job.  Maybe… just maybe… if I would have gotten that job, I would still be at that job earning 75k per year, instead of having many (single) months where I’ve earned that much online!  Maybe I’d be scraping by, maybe I would have gotten fired.  Maybe it would have been so stressful I got sick.  Who knows?

In the book, “The Science Of Getting Rich”, the writings explain how when you have faith and follow the principles in that book, you are to be grateful when something you want does not work out.  It says to be thankful and have faith that something better is to come.  Do you believe that kind of stuff?  I do.  It has worked for me and I think it has worked for millions and millions of other people too, even people who do not realize what happened.

Failure?  Are you kidding?  It’s part of the journey of life.  Want more life?  Take more leaps of faith DESPITE that risk of failure.  You can take calculated risks, smart moves, smart action steps, but don’t ever let the fear of failing prevent you from achieving your dreams and goals.  Take leaps of faith.  Success and abundance is found on the other side of taking leaps of faith.  When you take action, you set everything in motion for you.  Lack of taking action keeps you right where you are and right where you’ve been.

Fortune favors the bold.

Just do it.

Everyday is Christmas!

Respectfully,

Eric Louviere

PS – how you approach and think about failure can shape your entire life.  Sometimes just tweaking the way you “think” about failure is all it takes to explode your success and achieve dreams.  How should people view failure?