Posts Tagged ‘failure’

Fear of Flying: Facing the Fear of Success

Believe it or not, one of the most paralyzing fears is the fear of success. That's right, the fear of achieving one's goals. It seems insane, because of course, we want to reach our goals, right? I mean, don't we? The short answer is that yes, we do want to accomplish our goals, but that it's complicated. There are several factors that complicate our relationship with achievement. For example, we may… Continue reading

October 2 2009 | By Dustin | Tagged: achievement, failure, fear, goal, project, success | 9 comments»

The Fast Track Past A Failed Project: 5 Steps

I've been working on a pretty big project — a book — for going on eight months. This week, I got word that the project had been scrapped, at least as far as the publisher was concerned. It was a pretty big let down for me: we were only about two months away from the end of the project. Since I've gotten word, I've been working through everything from shock… Continue reading

May 21 2009 | By Thursday | Tagged: disappointment, failure, project | 8 comments»

Lessons from a Plagiarist

It happens every semester. Some student, thinking themselves very clever indeed, Googles up a WIkipedia entry, some obscure facts page from some obscure website, an essay from one of the plagiarism sites, or, one time, even one of my own papers, and hands it in as his or her own.

The smarter ones cut out the links and references to the site their paper came… Continue reading

May 13 2009 | By Dustin | Tagged: dignity, ethics, failure, honesty, life-lesson, personal growth, plagiarism | 30 comments»

Change The Way You See Fear And Change Your Life

When was the last time you took a risk? Not something major and life-threatening, but something that represented a step outside your comfort zone. Can you recall a time recently when you did something that felt uncomfortable for you? If not, get ready to take a major step forward. Frequently, in business and in life, we get too comfortable. We find solid ground - a place that feels safe - we… Continue reading

February 13 2009 | By Susan | Tagged: business, coaching, entrepreneur, failure, fear, life, success | 20 comments»

How To Instantly Feel Better When You Are Depressed

Life is full of setbacks and heartache. The difference between unsuccessful people and successful people often comes down to one thing: mental toughness. You can be someone who lets failure derail you, feel like a victim, and tell "your story" of defeat to everyone you know. Or you can do the most difficult and healthy thing of all: move on and try a different approach to accomplish your goals. Here are three mental… Continue reading

October 27 2008 | By Brian | Tagged: depression, failure, heartache, motivation, psychology, setback | 37 comments»

10 Productivity Myths That Hold You Back

What are the myths and mistaken beliefs that are preventing you from being more productive in both your work life and your personal life? How are you actively undermining your efforts to pull it all together? Yeah, I mean you. The sad fact is that the beliefs that we hold about productivity and organization often prevent us from doing and being everything we want to do and be in our lives. While… Continue reading

July 28 2008 | By Dustin | Tagged: failure, gtd, myth, Productivity, success, system | 36 comments»

How to Admit Your Mistakes

OK, you screwed up. Something's gone horribly, horribly wrong, and it's all your fault. And now, it's time to pay the piper.

Maybe you lost your company's big client. Maybe you forgot to do a critical part of that big project. Maybe you weren't there for someone when they needed you, even when you said you would be. Whatever the situation, someone trusted you to do a job and you… Continue reading

June 2 2008 | By Dustin | Tagged: apologizing, failure, learning, mistake, responsibility, self-development | 11 comments»

What’s Missing in Productivity Today?

This month, we asked Lifehack.org contributors -- and you, our readers -- to think about the things that are missing in today's productivity systems. Not only the areas where the "Big Name" systems fall short, but the gaps in our own systems, the places where we as individuals fall down.

The Lifehack.org community rose to the challenge, offering a variety of thought-provoking posts and comments that… Continue reading

March 28 2008 | By Dustin | Tagged: advice, contact-management, failure, gtd, information management, perfectionism, Productivity, software, time-management, tips | 9 comments»

Welcome Failure

Very often the best way to test an idea is not to analyze it but to try it. The organization that implements lots of ideas will most likely have many failures but the chances are, it will reap some mighty successes too. By trying numerous initiatives we improve our chances that one of them will be a star. As Tom Kelley of IDEO puts it… Continue reading

March 27 2008 | By Paul | Tagged: creativity, failure, imagination, leadership, Management, problem-solving, success, thinking | 13 comments»

I Won Science Fair with A Failed Project: The Skill of Presenting Failures

For my first three science fairs, I received a participation ribbon — no prizes, no other acknowledgment. For my fourth, I walked away with $600, a first place award from AFCEA, a Discovery Science award and the Yale Science & Engineering Association Award. My science fair project that year wasn’t any different from my past projects: I failed to prove anything, learned nothing about science, and did the project in… Continue reading

February 5 2008 | By Thursday | Tagged: failure, presentation, Projects | 36 comments»

10 Reasons You Aren’t Achieving Success

A couple of months ago, I asked you not to fear failure, saying that embracing failure -- or at least the possibility of failure -- was essential to success. But, of course, in the end the goal is to succeed, and fear of failing isn't the only thing that keeps us from succeeding. I speak from experience here. Six or seven years ago, I was the picture of… Continue reading

November 9 2007 | By Dustin | Tagged: failure, goal, lifelesson, success | 47 comments»

Leadership and the Human Stain

Wired Magazine recently posted an interesting profile of Getting Things Done author David Allen. A similar profile ran in Business 2.0 over the summer. The pieces detail a history of drug abuse and addiction, mental breakdown, drifting, and divorce, before Allen eventually encountered the spiritual leader John-Roger, the Mystical Traveler, and began assembling the philosophy that would come to stand as the core of GTD. While there's little… Continue reading

October 3 2007 | By Dustin | Tagged: clinton, davidallen, empower, failure, gandhi, gtd, human, leadership | 15 comments»

How to Fail at Practically Anything

I say, fail a lot. Push yourself to the limits of your talents, endurance, and common sense, and then go one step further and fall down, spectacularly if possible. Failure is one of life’s great forces; it’s driven far more innovation than talent, creativity, or necessity combined. Plus, its stories are better. Most people, of course, avoid failure. Or, at least, they try to, as much… Continue reading

September 12 2007 | By Dustin | Tagged: failing, failure, planning, risk, success | 13 comments»

The Two F-Words You Should Love

Make Failure and Frustration Your Friends: A History Lesson We all experience failure and the subsequent frustration. But how you handle those tormentors makes all the difference in your final outcomes. Oftentimes the peak of frustration comes right before a major breakthrough. That's if you don't quit. So don't quit! Instead use the energy behind that frustration to break through to a new level of strategy. Make failure the friend… Continue reading

June 27 2007 | By K. | Tagged: failure, famous, frustration, people | 23 comments»

How fear of failure destroys success

Trial and error are usually the prime means of solving life’s problems. Yet many people are afraid to undertake the trial because they’re too afraid of experiencing the error. They make the mistake of believing that all error is wrong and harmful, when most of it is both helpful and necessary. Error provides the feedback that points the way to success. Only error pushes people to put together a new… Continue reading

May 28 2007 | By Guest | Tagged: balance, career, failure, Management, success | 36 comments»

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