If you look back on your life, whether it’s life in general or your career, or just about anything else, most likely you will remember the good times more than the bad. Of course, that doesn’t mean everything has gone perfect and that you haven’t had your share of failures. The fact is everyone fails. Failure is a part of life and some might say that it’s even a necessary part of success. Failure is often very important because you can learn from your failures, which can help you overcome the mistakes you’ve made and not repeat them. That can lead to success. Therefore, it’s important to remember your failures so you don’t make the same mistakes twice, but you shouldn’t focus on them. That’s because your successes are more important than your failures.
Vinod Khosla – Co-Founder Sun Microsystems
During his visit to the Stanford Graduate School of Business as part of his “The View From The Top” talk, Sun Microsystems Co-Founder Vinod Khosla spoke on success and failure. “Try and fail,” he said, “but don’t fail to try.” Vinod discussed some of his successes and some of his failures, but he pointed out that people don’t remember your failures because your successes are more important. He explained in his talk that just a few months before he and his business partner started Sun Microsystems, they started another company. They received funding but the business, known as Data Dump, really never got off the ground. However, when he asked the crowd if any of them could name that business no one could. His point was that no one remembers your failures.
Secret to Success
So what’s the secret to success? According to Vinod: “The funny thing is with enough persistence, most things that seem impossible become possible. I’m always amazed at how often you can turn things around and at how often people take no for an answer too easily. Whether you’re trying to achieve a goallike get into business school – or my green card was the same way. My strategy was if I couldn’t convince immigration then I’d confuse them and I did. And they gave me green card.” Vinod continued: “The point is, if you really believe something then you try your best to make it happen. It doesn’t always happen but it happens most of the time. Things do work out if you persist. Not always, but I like to say failure does not matter, it’s success that matters.”
Persistence Is the Key
There are many ways to both define and achieve success in life and in business, but the real key is persistence. Don’t give up and don’t take no for an answer. Lastly, always remember to focus on your successes and not on your failures.
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