The release of JJ Abrams’ new Star Wars movie is still a year-and-a-half away, but excitement among fans is growing. What’s most exciting for Star Wars fans is the fact that Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford will all be reprising their original roles in the new film, which is set around 30 years after the end of Return of the Jedi.
Harrison Ford is a highly successful movie star these days, but did you know that this wasn’t always the case? In fact after Harrison Ford’s first small movie role, an executive took him into his office and told him he’d never succeed in the movie business. Ford’s career went on to span six decades and has included timeless starring roles in blockbuster films.
Ford didn’t let his early failure end his career, he learnt from the experience. So that leads to…
Don’t let past failures hold you back
In business and BNI, it’s important to realise that failure is part of our journey and even the most successful people experience it at one time or another. The key is not to let past business failures hold you back from going forward.
People who have had a bad experience in a previous role or a failure in business ownership frequently let themselves be controlled by their past. They have an expectation that they will fail again; this expectation sometimes holds people back at BNI as well.
An example, if you’ve delivered a 60 seconds that hasn’t been well received or got the response you were looking for, it’s a matter of sitting down and figuring out how it could be better articulated. Talk to members about it and pay close attention to the feedback they give you. Don’t take it personally, use this feedback to adjust and refine your 60 seconds.
Remember that there is an art to the 60 second presentation and it takes time to get it right. Don’t focus on your perceived failure and feel deflated, use the experience as a lesson for the future.
Here are some more tactics you can use to stop the past holding you back:
- Recognise that everyone fails at some point and that this is part of your experience in the business world.
- At BNI acknowledge your past successes – perhaps create a list of wins you’ve had in your prior roles.
- Think about what you learnt from your failures – learning lessons is a critical part of the process and something you can share with members in your 10 minute presentations and dances.
We want you build up your resilience to failure.
Resilience means having the ability to bounce back from many of life’s setbacks and traumas that we all endure over the course of our lives. Many successful people have done exactly this and you can too.
Don’t let your past failures control your future – learn from them because… as Yoda said “Luminous beings are we!”
