Reasons for business failure
I am sometimes asked for the reasons why a new business would fail, and the answer is quite simple: the person only has to look in the mirror.
Strangely enough, the main reason for failure is also the main reason for success: the person in the mirror!
This is what Jim Rohn meant when he said, "Success is something you attract by the person you become."
Here's how I put it: "The main reason for failure is the failure to reason."
In other words, the population is not divided between the "haves" and "have nots." Rather, it's the "thinks" and "think nots."
Those who do not think for themselves, are forced to follow the train of thought of someone else. And usually, that someone else doesn't have your interest at heart. Why should he? He has his own goals, and he has a plan to achieve them. If you don't have goals and are not interested in thinking for yourself, then you will have to follow his orders until you retire at age 65.
Perhaps I'm being a little harsh. After all, children are not really taught how to think for themselves at school. They are "taught" the right answers which should be regurgitated during examination periods.
One movie I highly recommend, if you are serious about success, is The Great Debaters, starring Denzel Washington and produced by Oprah.
The acting is superb, and the main message I got is, "Learn how to think and how to argue. Be ruthless in your reasoning and you will succeed."
Most people's thinking is quite vague, and this is why they do not succeed. I have friends who are CEOs of small companies and large companies, and I can tell you that their reasoning is quite ruthless.
To achieve financial freedom, you've got to prepare your arguments, and then be willing to share them in a (friendly) debate with an opponent whose sole mission is to DESTROY all your arguments.
A few months ago, I was invited to sit on a panel of investors and entrepreneurs in order to evaluate the business plan of men and women who had just completed 12 weeks of intensive entrepreneurial training.
About 1 person out of 20 did a rational presentation. The other 19 were so vague and so unfocused in the presentation of their business project that I felt they would do better as employees in the corporate world.
It seems strange to me that most people have not yet realized that the only thing they need to become wealthy, is that little round thing that sits on their shoulders!
So few people use their brains. In fact, children and young people who are at school or university, use their brains more than working adults!
Of course, they are engaged in superficial learning because there is no context in which they can apply, verify and thus integrate their learning into a permanent and habitual way of thinking. But at least, there is much activity in their brains.
Deep learning, as opposed to superficial learning, means "reflection in action." It means you are doing things, and are at the same time reflecting on what you are doing. It means "learning in context."
In short, the following sequence seems to capture what happens to many, if not most, entrepreneurs:
Business failure --> Reasoning --> Business success
For example, I failed in business in 1995. I learned from it. And have succeeded in business ever since.
Sometimes, you don't need to fail in business in order to succeed. But you definitely need to learn how to reason. How to argue and win arguments. And the best way to do that is to share your plans and arguments and sales pitches with friends and associates, and ask them explicitly to DESTROY your argumentation.
If you have the courage the expose your thinking and reasoning to ruthless criticism from others, then you will learn and improve. And as you learn and improve, you will maximize your odds of success.
Eventually, you will be so good at reasoning that you will succeed at ANY venture you undertake.
Such is the awesome power of reason, yet most people have not yet realized this. So now, you are way ahead of most people. But only for a short time.
Strangely enough, the main reason for failure is also the main reason for success: the person in the mirror!
This is what Jim Rohn meant when he said, "Success is something you attract by the person you become."
Here's how I put it: "The main reason for failure is the failure to reason."
In other words, the population is not divided between the "haves" and "have nots." Rather, it's the "thinks" and "think nots."
Those who do not think for themselves, are forced to follow the train of thought of someone else. And usually, that someone else doesn't have your interest at heart. Why should he? He has his own goals, and he has a plan to achieve them. If you don't have goals and are not interested in thinking for yourself, then you will have to follow his orders until you retire at age 65.
Perhaps I'm being a little harsh. After all, children are not really taught how to think for themselves at school. They are "taught" the right answers which should be regurgitated during examination periods.
One movie I highly recommend, if you are serious about success, is The Great Debaters, starring Denzel Washington and produced by Oprah.
The acting is superb, and the main message I got is, "Learn how to think and how to argue. Be ruthless in your reasoning and you will succeed."
Most people's thinking is quite vague, and this is why they do not succeed. I have friends who are CEOs of small companies and large companies, and I can tell you that their reasoning is quite ruthless.
To achieve financial freedom, you've got to prepare your arguments, and then be willing to share them in a (friendly) debate with an opponent whose sole mission is to DESTROY all your arguments.
A few months ago, I was invited to sit on a panel of investors and entrepreneurs in order to evaluate the business plan of men and women who had just completed 12 weeks of intensive entrepreneurial training.
About 1 person out of 20 did a rational presentation. The other 19 were so vague and so unfocused in the presentation of their business project that I felt they would do better as employees in the corporate world.
It seems strange to me that most people have not yet realized that the only thing they need to become wealthy, is that little round thing that sits on their shoulders!
So few people use their brains. In fact, children and young people who are at school or university, use their brains more than working adults!
Of course, they are engaged in superficial learning because there is no context in which they can apply, verify and thus integrate their learning into a permanent and habitual way of thinking. But at least, there is much activity in their brains.
Deep learning, as opposed to superficial learning, means "reflection in action." It means you are doing things, and are at the same time reflecting on what you are doing. It means "learning in context."
In short, the following sequence seems to capture what happens to many, if not most, entrepreneurs:
Business failure --> Reasoning --> Business success
For example, I failed in business in 1995. I learned from it. And have succeeded in business ever since.
Sometimes, you don't need to fail in business in order to succeed. But you definitely need to learn how to reason. How to argue and win arguments. And the best way to do that is to share your plans and arguments and sales pitches with friends and associates, and ask them explicitly to DESTROY your argumentation.
If you have the courage the expose your thinking and reasoning to ruthless criticism from others, then you will learn and improve. And as you learn and improve, you will maximize your odds of success.
Eventually, you will be so good at reasoning that you will succeed at ANY venture you undertake.
Such is the awesome power of reason, yet most people have not yet realized this. So now, you are way ahead of most people. But only for a short time.
posted by Super Peter at 7:51 PM
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