Nature's Way

Picture 20If everything we attempted in life were achieved with minimum of effort and came out exactly as planned, how little we would learn-and how boring life would be! And how arrogant we would become if we succeeded at everything we attempted.

Failure allows us to develop the essential quality of humility.

It is not easy- when you are the person experiencing failure- to accept it philosophically, serene in the knowledge  that this is one of life’s great learning experiences. But it is.

Nature’s way are not always easily understood, but they are repetitive and therefore predictable.

You can be absolutely certain that when you feel you are being most unfairly tested, you are being prepared for great achievement.

Lead From Within: Failure seems to be nature’s way for preparing you for great responsibilities.

Lead with Purpose

Messages From Within


Lolly Daskal is one of the most sought-after executive leadership coaches in the world. Her extensive cross-cultural expertise spans 14 countries, six languages and hundreds of companies. As founder and CEO of Lead From Within, her proprietary leadership program is engineered to be a catalyst for leaders who want to enhance performance and make a meaningful difference in their companies, their lives, and the world.

Of Lolly’s many awards and accolades, Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine. Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World. Her writing has appeared in HBR, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask The Expert), Huffington Post, and Psychology Today, and others. Her newest book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness has become a national bestseller.

  1. Monica Diaz

    02. Jan, 2010

    I do not believe Nature concieves the concept of failure as we do. It always restarts, renews, goes on. I believe it is so much the concept that holds us back. As if life were either success or failure, either winning or losing, when life itself is its reward and continuing to move on your life path and revovering your life purpose is the point of living! 😉

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  2. Henri @ Wake Up Cloud

    02. Jan, 2010

    This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Without challenges, fear and failure it just wouldn’t be as fun. How fun would it be to play a video game that has no challenges and no risk of death? Boring, as you say 😉

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  3. Lolly Daskal

    02. Jan, 2010

    Dear Monica,

    Your insights, your words are always so powerful and profound. Yes, I agree -discovering life’s purpose- path is the point of living.

    Here is to all the “restarts, renews and goes on” in 2010.
    Lolly

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  4. Karen Gordon

    02. Jan, 2010

    Hi Lolly. I have a daughter who is four and she’s taken to using the word “fair” a lot lately. I keep telling her, what does fair have to do with it? “Fair” has always gotten me into trouble. Letting go of that idea and rocking the frame that “when you feel you are being most unfairly tested, you are being prepared for great achievement” leads to great things. It opens you to possibility, to making your lemonade out of the lemons. Right on.

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    • Lolly Daskal

      02. Jan, 2010

      There are few occasions during our brief time on earth when most of us experience great flashes of insight, great moments of truth that forever change the course of our lives. Most of those experiences result from spectacular failures, not from outstanding successes. It is from failure that so chagrined and dismayed us that we learn the most lasting lessons. When you are unwilling recipient of a great moment of truth, extract the useful lessons and then put the entire episode behind you. Learn from your failures, forget them. and move to better things. Your failures will prove to be an asset -provided we know why you failed.

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    • Lolly Daskal

      02. Jan, 2010

      Karen, While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.

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  5. Tonya Leigh

    02. Jan, 2010

    What a great reminder as we start 2010. When failure is viewed as opportunity, it changes the game. Best to you!

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    • Lolly Daskal

      02. Jan, 2010

      Tonya, We all need reminders- and if we don’t know why we failed. We are no wiser than when we began.

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  6. Connie Vasquez

    02. Jan, 2010

    Great post, Lolly. I agree with Monica. “Failure” is merely a natural evolution and an opportunity for clarity. I find that when I “fail,” there was something not quite aligned with who I am or what I really want, or that I set out with a bunch of “shoulds”. So comes another opportunity to choose and create again with that new insight.

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    • Lolly Daskal

      02. Jan, 2010

      Connie, so great to see you here. I was thinking – If we are careful – and we study our own life and those of achievers whom we admire, it is with absolute certainty we will discover that their greatest opportunities often occurred during times of adversity. It is only when faced with the possibility of failure that we are willing to deal with radical change and take risk that lead to great success.

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  7. Rob Taub

    02. Jan, 2010

    Right on the money, Lolly, as usual! I once heard said, never look at failure as defeat but rather an opportunity to practice your trechnique, perfect your performance and of course improve, your sense of humor. I say, personal growth/development is the evolution of failuer (I just made that up 😉

    Hope this helps!
    YT,
    Rob Taub

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    • Lolly Daskal

      02. Jan, 2010

      Rob,
      Thank you for your support and comments. I like the way you think..I think you should tweet it…(LOL) “Growth development is the evolution of our failures”. Smart man.
      Have a great weekend.
      Lolly

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  8. Dorothy Dalton

    02. Jan, 2010

    Lolly – great insights. Failure and setbacks whilst
    challenging provide great lessons if we choose to listen to them!

    I wish you all good things for 2010!

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  9. Lolly Daskal

    02. Jan, 2010

    Dorothy, Failure is a blessing when it pushes us out of a cushioned seat of self – satisfaction and forces us to do something useful.

    I look forward to reading your manuscript in 2010.
    love you always
    Lolly

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  10. Earl Gray

    04. Jan, 2010

    This speaks to the value of experience, especially painful ends.

    Some career moves and opportunities that have been the most personally and professionally rewarding have come from something else that ended either painfully or too soon – in my opinion/understanding at the time. Every one of them has been the opportunity to step into something unexpected from a direction or connection that I had not anticipated – and every one of them have been a key piece from the past into my current future.

    The pain has always been worth the joy of the opportunity and living it out. Always

    Thanks for the heart, soul and spirit in your writing – it makes a difference!

    Earl

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  11. Malcolm R. Campbell

    04. Jan, 2010

    Great post. That opening paragraph literally pops off the screen. I want to shout “yes.”

    Malcolm

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  12. Sonia Di Maulo

    04. Jan, 2010

    Amazing post and comments! Has opened my mind to new thinking… failure as a natural concept of life and life as its reward.

    Love it!

    Thanks Lolly for generating such a wonderful discussion.

    Sonia

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  13. Kim E. Williams

    10. Jan, 2010

    Tom Hopkins has some clever ‘attitudes toward failure’ that i memorized years ago to keep me focused on seeing failure as a positive contributor to my life. Movement isn’t possible without friction and living isn’t joyful without failure that build to success.

    I think are frustration comes from not perceiving and celebrating the number of successes that actually have had there beginnings in failure.

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  14. Jolly Roger Holman

    22. Nov, 2010

    Failure just means we are one step closer to success! As the saying goes when the going gets tough, the tough go to Jesus!

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