March 2007

Dear Anne

This month’s newsletter is packed full of useful resources. We’ll be looking at how to make things happen in your life. We’ll explore how to turn failure into a positive experience so that you can move forward towards achieving your goals.

Do you have a success story you’d like to share with us? As always I’d love to hear from you and get your feedback on this newsletter. So why not email me or call me on 01697 747 821.

Best wishes,

“I can accept failure – everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.”

Michael Jordan, basketball player

We all have goals and aspirations. There is always something we would like to change in our life or something new that we would like to try. But one thing is for sure – nothing will change or happen unless you really want it to and until you do something proactive about it.

People who achieve their goals all have these things in common. They are determined. They have energy and enthusiasm. But most importantly they have learnt to deal with failure.

Failure is inevitable. If you are going to make changes in your life it is very likely that you will have to step out of your comfort zone. When you try something new then you run the risk of failing. Failing is actually an important ingredient in success as it gives you vital feedback that you can use. Are you prepared to take the rough with the smooth? Can you take a knock?

It’s important to be prepared for failure. How you deal with failure determines how positive or negative the experience turns out to be. If you have a strategy for dealing with hard times, then you can turn them to your advantage.

Turning a negative experience into a positive one is not something that comes naturally to many people. But if you have goals you really want to reach, then you need to learn from your negative experiences and keep your forward momentum. Here is a simple exercise that will help you deal with failure positively.
Step one – Look at times when you have previously failed at something. We’ve all experienced set backs. Think about some of your biggest setbacks or mistakes and write them down.
Step two – Look at how you dealt with each setback. Consider how you reacted at the time. What was the outcome? Quite often people say that what appeared to be a setback turned out to be a positive turning point in their life.
Step three – Think about what you would do differently. At the time we make a mistake or experience a setback we don’t have the benefit of hindsight. It’s important to learn from each experience so that future knocks don’t hold you back.
Learning to celebrate your successes is also extremely important. Unfortunately far too many people focus on the negatives and forget the good things that happened to them. That’s why we’ve created a worksheet that explores the importance of focusing on the positive experiences in your life. Click here to visit our website and download it for free.

Jodie Tallan of Redruth faced a long time off work.

Jodie had an operation that meant that her leg was in plaster for 8 weeks. Being self employed this could have been a very difficult and negative time for her. However, she decided that she would look for as much positivity as she could from the episode. She managed to continue with some work by travelling on the train. As she needed assistance she was often given seats in First Class, which meant she also enjoyed free breakfast and drinks. As you can imagine, this was a very positive experience. Although she was very independent Jodie reluctantly agreed to a friend coming to stay with her and help her at home. As a result of them living together their friendship grew even stronger and now, the friend is helping with Jodie’s business. Another concern Jodie had about her injury was that she would put on weight because she was going to be inactive for such a long period. She didn’t sit at home and mope though. Instead she got out and about as much as she could. She ended up losing weight and toning up her arms because getting about on crutches was so physically demanding!

What negative experiences can you turn into positives today?

Instant Creativity by Brian Clegg and Paul Birch. Some of us stumble as we cannot find new ideas and ways to operate after a failure. The techniques in this book will give you whole range of new options.

The Tao of Motivation by Max Landberg. Understanding what motivates you will help you to reframe your failures effectively.

http://www.43things.com/ This blog site is about writing down your goals and charting your progress towards them. You can have 43 things on your list!

What’s Available?

You can now buy any of the books listed above through the direct links to Amazon. If you would like to browse, buy or learn more about the books featured in earlier issues of Positive Energy, then just visit our website and click on Recommended Reading. This will take you directly to our bookshop page. We will be adding to this page as we encounter other great personal development titles.

Milecastle Consultancy Ltd
Tel: 01697 747 821 Email: sue.hewitt@milecastle.co.uk Website: www.milecastle.co.uk
Milecastle Consultancy Ltd, 1 Rose Cottages, Gilsland, Brampton, Cumbria CA8 7AP