Know When to Hold Them, Know When to Fold Them - Kenney Rogers

You are not a failure until you refuse to try again. I have only met two people in my lifetime who I consider to be failures.  They both had things in common: Early in life they experienced failure and regardless of the opportunities presented to them they refused to try again; they had spouses that were enablers; they refused to acknowledge their part in their failure, they were good at blaming others and both were waiting on God to turn things around.

I have always contributed my success to God and not giving up, but that does not mean there were not times when I got out. I have invested time, money and energy in some losers, but I always was willing to cut my losses and get out. I did hang in until I could sell for a small profit. What might not be good for you may be great for someone else. In all but one case the people that purchased the businesses I sold were successful and happy with the purchase.  Unfortunately, too many people do not even consider getting out as an option. They will hang in until they lose it all. I always had an exit strategy in case I needed it.

Hard work can be enjoyable if you are enjoying what you are doing, but when the enjoyment is gone it is time to get out. Thinking about your capital, time and energy invested may cloud your thinking. It is often hard to give up on the dream of what you thought you could achieve.

 It is a common misconception that winners never quit, but the truth is it can take a considerable amount of strength and courage to quit the things that are not right for you. The most successful people in the world are often the ones that have let go of something in order to pursue a bigger dream and achieve greater happiness. Winners never quit when they know they are on the right path, but when quitting is the right thing to do, quitting and refocusing your energies can lead to a happier and healthier lifestyle.

Before you judge too harshly a person that quits or fails and tries again think about how your success in life compares to the following men who failed and started over many times: Henry Ford - Ford failed five times before he founded the successful Ford Motor Company; R. H. Macy - Macy failed seven times before finally hitting big with his store in New York City; F. W. Woolworth - Woolworth was not allowed to wait on customer in a dry good store because his first employer thought he was not smart enough, but went on to found the most successful general merchandise store in the world; Soichiro Honda - Honda was turned down by Toyota Motor Corporation because they thought he was not a good engineer and he decided to make motor scooters in his home; Bill Gates - Gates dropped out of Harvard and his first business venture failed; Harland David Sanders - Sanders had his famous secret chicken recipe rejected 1,009 times before a restaurant finally accepted it; Walt Disney - Disney was fired from his first newspaper job because they said he lacked imagination; Thomas Edison – Edison was fired from two jobs and made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Oprah Winfrey, Harry S. Truman all experienced failures and had to start over.

If you are unhappy, have lost your passion or you are hurting yourself or others it is time to quit and try again. Continuing doing what is making you unhappy is only robbing you of a better future. We only live once and have no time to waste on anything other than what contribute to our happiness and success.

Stop thinking starting over is a waste of time. There is a lesson to be learned in everything and it is often the lessons learned in failures that can bring us one step closer to finding what really does make us happy and successful.  Failure and defeat are often life’s greatest teachers.

Fear of failure can keep us from achieving great things. Great success often depends on great risk, and failure is simply a common byproduct. To achieve your personal best you can’t fear failure. To achieve any worthy goal, we must take risks which leaves us open to the possibility of failure. Decide whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying and give it a try.

It is important that we remember failure can only lead to success if we learn from our failures, accept responsibility for our failures, and do not repeat past mistake while expecting a different result.

Success requires a plan, drive, patience, integrity, passion, self-confidence, hard work, self-reliance and prayer.