Defeats are Essential for Victories!

Maya Angelou once said “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”  I do not know anyone who enjoys loosing.  I admit that I am very competitive and have always hated loosing.  It is okay to want to win because that desire and determination fuels your drive for success; however, what you should not do is allow failures or defeats to deter you from continuing to pursue your goals.  Actually, I argue that defeat is your most useful tool in business and life because there is nothing to learn from a victory.  Victories are awesome because they allow you an opportunity to celebrate your abilities and skills while feeling good about what you have done.  The problems with victories is that they are short lived.  Often victories are finite.  Failures on the other hand are the greatest instructors in life.  Failures push you to ask tough questions like "what went wrong?... why did it go wrong?... what should I do next time to prevent the wrong from happening again?" and the like.  Failures also test how serious you are about achieving the goals you are chasing.  If you quit easily then perhaps you are not as passionate about your work as you thought.  So let us take Dr. Angelou's advice and acknowledge defeat yet never accept it.  Instead let us rise from setbacks and come out of each defeat a stronger and smarter person.  You can do it!  -Derek A. Terry, Principal Consultant www.ConsultingDAT.com