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GOD CARES FOR ME
By: Jaswinder Gill
Tags: Christianity, Daily Devotion, Prayer, Jesus Christ, Bible

DAILY DEVOTION

GOD CARES FOR ME

Topic: GOD CARES FOR ME

ear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee: yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10

The Lord is in active communication with every part of His vast dominions. He represented as bending toward the earth and its inhabitants. He is listening to every word that is uttered. He hears every groan. He listens to every prayer; He observes the movements of every one.

God has always had a care for His people Christ taught His disciples that the amount of divine attention given to any object is proportionate to the rank assigned to it in the creation of God. He called their attention to the birds of the air. Not a sparrow. He said, falls to the ground without the notice of our heavenly Father. And if the little sparrow is regarded by Him. Surely the souls of those for whom Christ has died are precious in His sight. The value of man, the estimate God places upon him, is revealed in the cross of Calvary. God’s mercy and love for the fallen race have not ceased to accumulate, nor lost their earthward direction. It is true that disappointment will come; tribulation we must expect; but we are to commit everything. great and small, to God. He does not become perplexed by the multiplicity of our grievances, nor overpowered by the weight of our burdens. His watch care extends to every household, and encircles every individual; He is concerned in all our business and our sorrows. He marks every tear; He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. All the afflictions and trials that befall us here are permitted, to work out His purposes of love toward us “that we might be partakers of His holiness,” and thus become participants in that fullness of joy which is found in His presence.

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, please help to cooperate with You in everything, Amen.
ما هي الصلاة التي تقرُّ بها العين؟!
By: Radwa Ismail
Tags: Quran, Prayer, Ibnu Qayyim Al Jauziyah, Hadith, Islam

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我能為你禱告嗎？
By: Peihua Lee
Tags: Prayer

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Kiddush for Friday Evening by Andy Blumenthal
By: Andrew, Avraham
Tags: Shabbat, Prayer, Kiddus, Cantorial, Fred Blumenthal

Andy Blumenthal is a dynamic, award-winning leader with 30 years of experience delivering results across the public and private sectors. Views are his alone.
चाहे कृष्ण कहो या राम
By: आच र य प रश न त - Acharya Prashant
Tags: Meditation, Mythology, Prayer, Spirituality, God

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All About Malas
By: Mukha Yoga
Tags: Meditation, Mala, Prayer, Tibet, Yoga

One of my favorite things to do, before I walk out the door, is adorn myself with a beautiful mala I bought in Bali while traveling there in 2012. I distinctly remember the experience of buying it. My friend Lisa and I searched and sought for over a week until we found the sweetest little shop with handmade malas.

We held mala after mala in our hands, carefully considering the significance of the stones, the colors of the beads, etc. I chose a traditional mala with rudraksha beads and carved lava as the Guru bead (the centering bead above the tassel). Recently while at a 21 day yoga teacher training, I wore this mala and used it often for Japa meditation — a recitation of mantra 108 times, using the 108 beads as my guide.

Malas are not only an aesthetic enhancement to an outfit, but they are also a spiritual symbol. I wear mine as a reminder of the yoga journeys I have been on. I also use it in meditation. 108 is considered an auspicious number for many reasons. According to Ayurveda (the sister science of yoga), there are 108 sacred points in the body. There are also 108 energy lines within the chakra system that connect to the heart, and the diameter of the Sun is 108 times the diameter of the Earth. The significance of 108 can be found throughout history in religions, astronomy, and numerology.

Japa meditation is the repetition of a mantra or chant 108 times as you…

To read the rest of this article, visit https://www.mukhayoga.com/blogs/the-community-hub/all-about-malas.

By Liz Skarvelis; All Rights Reserved @2018
Take Time to Pause…
By: Suzanne Burnett
Tags: Parenting With Faith, Seeking Parenting Advice, Prayer, Faith And Family

When you’re angry, pause.

When you’re tired, pause.

When you’re out of patience, pause.

When you pause, PRAY.

I once went to visit a friend. Although the morning was nearly done, she was still in her pajamas pouring over a computer screen, hair in a messy bun, eyes squinting through glasses, brow furrowed. Upon questioning I learned that their teenage daughter had been having some major behavioral issues and my friend was at her breaking point. In desperation, she had been searching the internet for answers and suggestions all morning.

At the time I had no teenagers of my own and had absolutely zero suggestions, but after listening for awhile, a thought came to mind.

“Have you been praying about this?” I quietly asked, staring at the hands in my lap and knowing full well the question was from God, not from me.

My friend stopped typing and turned toward me. The answer was written all over her face, and we both knew where she needed to go for direction.

Even with an education including classes in child development and psychology and decades of hands-on child training experience, to this day when young mothers come to me with questions I tell them I don’t really know anything. But I whole-heartedly believe that we can be connected to One who knows everything.

If God is really our Father, which He is, and if He really put us on this earth to succeed gloriously, which He did, and if the children in our homes are really His children, which they are, why on earth would He NOT hear and answer a parent’s pleas for direction and help? He doesn’t want us to mess up His children any more than we want to permanently cause them psychological, mental, or emotional damage.

I can testify that God hears and answers the prayers of mothers and fathers who are trying to teach their children.

Laugh if you must, but when I was in the trenches of toilet training toddler number nine, He was right there with me, giving ideas and insights about how this child was totally different from our previous eight toilet training experiences.

He has prompted me when to speak, when to be quiet, when to ask questions, when to check devices, when to seek out the child I haven’t seen in hours, when to ask for more details about tonight’s teen party, and when to text a link to a scripture or article that will speak to a high school senior when they won’t listen to me.

God hears and answers prayers and fills in the gaps when you are doing all that you can to turn his precious children back to Him.

“Learn to pray. Pray often. Pray in your mind, in your heart. Pray on your knees. Prayer is your personal key to heaven. The lock is on your side of the veil. And I have learned to conclude all my prayers with “Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10; see also Luke 11:2; 3 Nephi 13:10).” (Boyd K. Packer, October 2009 General Conference address of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
Religious Account: Delusion at its finest
By: Jason Pinto
Tags: Rant, Prayer, Ethical, Funny, Religion

Religious Accounting

Sitting in India, I almost feel suicidal writing about religion. My inner voice is telling me, “Jason, your time has come. Do the needful.” Imagine being marched to your grave by those unemployed who’ve got “easily offended” listed on their resume. At least if you jump off a building, you can tick skydiving off your bucket list as you plummet to the ground.

When they say “I found God”

But all jokes aside, what is religious accounting? It’s the principle of briefly retreating to religion with the aim of balancing out a despicable action. So once you identify someone using this principle, there is nothing funnier. And it gets even tougher maintaining a straight face when the person tells you about their religious journey. Like buddy, you just drove over three orphans on your way to religion; I guess that makes them religious offerings?

We’ve all come across relatives, friends, and family members who are really religious. They seem to have a moral compass that only points toward every wrong direction. Their chantings and prayers increase with every questionable act. They steal property from their siblings — daily prayers get doubled. They manage to defraud the poor — religious retreat for a week. You technically are a despicable human being, but you feel good about yourself for going through the motions of repentance.

Even those cringe-worthy good morning messages have so many Godly images, making it seem like it actually came from the clouds above. On a serious note, my heart goes out to those who find themselves in a conversation with these buffoons because they will inject religion into the conversation like botox into a middle-aged celebrity. I speak from experience. Only God can save you now.

Since we’re talking about religious accounting, how do you balance out ending the world because you ate a bat?
When Should You Give Up
By: Eric Frank
Tags: Success, Failure, Entrepreneurship, Motivation

Give Up when Grit is Replaced with Stubbornness

“No matter how far behind I got, I figured I could always forgo a little sleep, throw some of my boundless manic energy at the tasks in front of me, and they’d just kind of sort themselves out” — Adam Savage

This mentality cost Adam the project he was working on and the friend he was doing it for. And the reason is that he substituted in the stubbornness, and maybe even a touch of youthful arrogance, where pragmatism should have been. I think everyone has been in this position at least once. I know I was when I volunteered to take on a whole building project for my team, only to have it crashing down upon my head right when we needed it most. While it didn’t come at such a high price (thanks to very understanding friends), it certainly came at the cost of my ego.

The truth of the matter is that grit can easily become stubbornness and focus can be blinding. If you find that you are throwing away the idea of reaching out for help just because “you can do this one yourself,” consider if you are truly exercising your grit, or if you have just become rigid and stubborn in your thinking. This is hard to recognize in the moment, especially since it begins to arise when you are under pressure and stress. For this exact reason, you have to take steps back. You cannot see the forest for the trees if you keep running into each individual tree head-first.

When you take a breath and step back, assess if you can feasibly keep pressing forward without changing. Consider whether you are being pragmatic in attacking the problem head-on, or whether you are doing it to placate your ego. If the latter, consider giving up on this battle, because you should…
Failures
By: Norah Kaps
Tags: Mistakes, Failure, Motivation

I wonder why we are all afriad. To go for goals, to take risks and to do the imposible. We have this mindset that if we fail it is bad. That if we fail we are a disappointment, but why? Who made failure such a bad thing? Just because you mess doesnt mean your a dissapointment. If anything it proves that you are trying. It proves that you are one of the few people in the world who are willing to go for your goals. We need to change the word failure. Instead of failure maybe it should be a draft. Just like this writing right now. This is my first piece writing — my first draft — its not going to be perfect. If you make a mistake that is your first draft. Over time you work on your draft getting your second, third and fourth draft until its perfect. All the drafts before are not failures; they are improvements. Get the idea of failure out of your mind. It can be hard, but trust me it will help. Instead of being afraid of making a mistake; you should be excited to make a mistake. Mistaks and failures are how you learn best. The more you know the smarter you will get. In todays sociecty it can be hard to not try to be perfect, but in reality you will never be perfect. Try new things, go for your goals and do the imposible.
FIGHT BACK
By: Pallavi Srivastava
Tags: Failure, Failure To Success, Life, Life Lessons, Fight Back

Once there was a girl named Tia who was 4 years old. She would fall everytime she used to walk and her mother would quickly come to help her and let her walk again which was a good thing, but something was not right…I don’t say this, Tia’s Grandmother felt so. This procedure went on a lot of days and Granny was watching everything very quietly. One fine morning, Granny ordered everyone in the house to not help Tia when she falls, everyone respected her so decided to do as she said. No one went near to Tia when she fell down. Instead everyone was encouraging her to get up and walk again. But Tia was used to the thing that, “MY MOTHER WILL HELP ME TO GET UP…SO WHY SHOULD I GET UP ON MY OWN…I WILL CRY AND SOMEONE WILL COME TO HELP ME.” This was the thing going on in the mind of the 4 year old child. She cried and cried for around 10 minutes, but no one came in to help her. At the end, her Grandma stood at some distance from her and told her, “Get up Tia, YOU CAN DO IT.” But, little Tia did not get up. After around 15 minutes, Tia got up, wiped her teary eyes and started walking. But Alas! She fell over again. Her 8 year old brother started laughing on her as she was falling over and over again. Finally somehow she managed to go to her Granny and gave her a tight hug.

That incident was over but even if Tia was just 4 years old she remembered that incident and when she was 10 years old, she decided to ask her Granny the reason behind doing so 6 years back. Her Granny was happy to see that Tia wants to know the real reason behind it.

She explained her,

“Look Tia, You were small, you knew that someone is there to pick you up and support you. But, this is not the case always. You face difficulties in life, you go through bad times, sometimes you cannot share everything with each and everyone that is going on in your mind, and that is perfectly fine. But the most important thing is, no one is going to be behind you when you fall, you need to get up, analyse and move on…People will laugh at you, but why does it matter? They were and are always there to laugh on people, more important is you get up, FIGHT BACK, show a better version of yourself and do for yourself, not for others.”

Tia heard this very carefully but had a question in her mind, “So Granny, do you want to say that the people who are successful had a bad time in their life?”

Granny replied, “Yes of course, People who are successful today does not mean that they were successful by their birth, they welcomed failure in their lives, handled it gracefully and moved on to prove themselves. It does not matter who you are but it definitely matters what you do to be who you desire to be. Take baby steps, life is not easy in itself, lets not make it complicated even more.”

In this upcoming year, let’s take a resolution to welcome and face our failures gracefully and FIGHT BACK to achieve what we desire to because Failure is not falling down, but refusing to stand back up.
Failed Attempts is Really Inevitable
By: Cruithne Kitsune
Tags: Cosplay, Failure, Sewing, Genshinimpact

Sewing is one of my weak point.

My mom is really good at sewing. She always sew my cosplay costumes. I would help her draw unusual pattern, but when it comes to touching a sewing machine, I always avoided it. I tried a few times, but I always end up breaking something (￣▽￣*)ゞ.

Recently I decided to start learning how to sew. I think I need to be able to do this myself, and stop burdening my mom with extra works. Incidentally, my lil brother said he wishes he can buy Klee’s hat for his 2yo daughter. However he couldn’t find any seller. Then I said, why not ask your sister to make it! So it’s decided, I’ll learn sewing with this project.

I watched this video on Youtube, and my mom helped me with some technical stuff regarding her sewing machine (that I borrowed).

Long story short, I managed to make the hat with many difficulties. But it turned out great, and my brother is thrilled (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

Now since I still have many leftover materials, I thought I’ll make another one, while making a tutorial for it. Learning from past mistakes, I thought this time will be a smooth run. But nayyy !

I don’t know how my brain works (￣▽￣*)ゞ

I wanted to make a 54cm brown belt, but the pattern I made ends up being 34cm (half). After cutting the fabric, I felt like it’s suuppeeerr too long! Then I “corrected” the pattern. Now it’s 29cm.

I didn’t realize 2 x 29cm is NOT 54cm…

I also made some other mistakes when sewing the front part….

Result was totally not proportional (；￣Д￣), and the belt is, of course, too big. I ends up spending half an hour dismantling this hat…
Why You Should Seek Failure, Not Success.
By: First The Pain
Tags: Failure, Quitting, Failure To Success, Success, Business

If you’ve ever seen the movie Cool Hand Luke, there’s a scene where the main character, Luke, fights the “leader” of the inmates.

Luke continually gets knocked down but no matter how badly he gets beat up, he never stops getting back up. He loses the fight, but he wins the respect and admiration of everyone around him.

This is what dangerous men and women do.

They keep getting back up.

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Confucius

Maybe, you’re bruised and battered? Maybe you’ve fallen time after time, experienced loss after loss, and failure after failure?

Get back up.

Success lies in rising from your failures.

A dangerous person seeks failures.

Successful people know that if they keep trying, success is inevitable. They know they’re only one more attempt away from winning.

The well-known inventor, Thomas Edison failed 1,000 times before successfully created the first light bulb. Can you believe that? 1,000 times!

When asked by a reporter, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?”. Edison’s reply was, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

Every failure is but the next step in the pathway to success; another piece of a larger puzzle.

The key is to reframe how you see failure.

How to Reframe Failure:

1. Understand that failure is just a stepping stone.

2. Realize that failure builds resilience and perseverance.

3. Recognize that ego is the enemy, not the failure?

4. Understand that all successful people fail on a regular basis but have learned to appreciate it.

5. Perceive failure as just another opportunity to learn.

6. Know that you are not a failure, it is not your identity.

7. Failure makes inevitable success that much better.

Become a Dangerous Person; seek failures, not successes.

Have you read the first of the “How to Become Dangerous” Series? If not, click here.
Tidur / Menangis
By: Mahesworo Langgeng Wicaksono
Tags: Storyofmylife, Sadness, Failure, Life

I visualize upon my mind whatever i feel by writing engraving.
Inner vs Outer Failures
By: Salman Ehsan
Tags: Failure, Outer Failure, Failing Forward, Failing, Inner Failure

A person feeling lost, failed.

Depending upon the dimension in which they occour, there are two types of failures: Inner failure and outer failures.

Outer failures (the situational failures)

Outer failures are “unintended outcomes” of your interaction with the outer world. Putting simply, when you take action and outcome is not what you thought it would be, you describe it as a failure. These are “external failure” or “situational failure” instead of “your failure”. Although you were part of the situation which failed, the failure is that of entire situation instead of you.

Inner failure (your failures)

When you deviate from your principles, and commitments, that is an inner failure. The failure happened within you and its independent of any external situation. Allow me to explain.

If you have a principle about speaking truth and if you lied, that is an inner failure. Between your principle and you, its you who failed. Your principle didn’t fail, its you who did.

If you have an internal promise that you will do something today and you didn’t, that is an inner failure. Between your commitment and you, its you who failed. Your commitment didn’t, its you who failed.

For inner failures there is no external situation. You cannot blame anything. Bad weather, lack of knowledge, lack of tools, lack of experience cannot be balmed. There is nothing to blame. It is just you and your principle.

Failure of Action (outer failures) vs Failing on Principles (inner failures)

Outer success is a numbers game, inner success is not

Outer success is a numbers game. The more attempts you make, the more you fail, the closer you get to your success.

Now depending upon “how complex”, “how new” and “how large” you are targetting, more and more external failures will be required.

Fix a broken toy: 5 failures

Crate a new product: 1000 filures

Create a new business: 10,000 failures

Reach Mars: Millions of failures

The number of outer failures you experience reveal how new, large and big you are playing. Remember: outer failures only happen when you TAKE ACTION. If you are thinking, wishing, wanting, reading, discussing or planning, NONE of them is action and no matter how many times you thought, wished, wanted or planned, you will not get closer to success.

Failures are simply a currency. That is a currency with which you buy success. The bigger success you are after, the more failures will be required to buy that.

Inner failures are not numbers game

Inner failures do not get you closer to your goals.

Once again, not standing by your values is the inner failure. No matter how many times you experience inner-failures, you do not achieve success. Inner-failures do not get you closer to your goals. INNER FAILURES ARE NOT A NUMBERS GAME.

The more inner failures you experience, the more self respect you lose, the less confidence you have and the less likely you are to experience outer failures. Be mindful of them. Don’t stop short of taking action. Don’t fail within.

May Allah help you get all your want and all you need in both worlds. Aamin.
Remember, growing might feel like breaking at first.
Tags: Mindfulness, Failure, Growth, Motivation

1. Return To The Bigger Picture

It’s easy to lose focus when you’re thoroughly working on the details. Down the track we tend to lose focus on the big picture, we then let that fire-fueling-feeling fizzle out and we lose our passion to continue, we say we’ll come back to it later.

You need to remember why you started in the first place. Whether that’s buying your dream home, finishing your DIY, or increasing your business revenue.

If things aren’t working the way you planned, be flexible to redirect your path when things aren’t going the way they were planned. Don’t let that stop you from achieving your goals. Focus on them instead.

2. Strive To Become Better Than Yesterday

Learn something every day. The world is a big place providing endless information on just about anything! It doesn’t matter how little so long as you have learned something new each day. Take a certain amount of time to read, write, paint, or dance!

Doesn’t matter if it’s a small action. If you’re contributing to growing you’re improving your life and your mindset. You are becoming better than you were yesterday.

3. Don’t Compare Yourself With Others

We are on our own paths. There is no need to compare yourself with others, it’s tempting and we all do it but it brings us no peace within ourselves. It causes envy, jealousy, and resentment. Instead, look up to them as inspiration. Ask yourself “what is it that got them to their goals that can help me achieve mine?”

We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are.

— Max Depree

Everyone is fighting their own battles, it’s harder when we live in a technology world filled with sharing, posting, filming.

It’s not a race. Take one step at a time and focus on yourself, your path.

4. Growth Is Uncomfortable

Growing is uncomfortable but who wants to stay in comfort forever anyway?

Being uncomfortable is being fearful of the unknown. Fear is the driver to cease our progress to our goals.

Discomfort is the great enemy of courage. Choose courage over comfort.

— Bene Brown

Don’t let this stop you from achieving what you want in life. Face those fears! Reach out to those who motivate and inspire you. Own your path and go all in because trying is better than never trying at all.
James Clear said, “The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom.”
By: Mathias Barra
Tags: Failure, Language, Inspiration, Success, Language Learning

James Clear said, “The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom.” He got it almost right. Truth is, you cannot fail.

Whatever you do, you never truly fail.

Even if your startup goes under, you’d have learned priceless lessons. This is the same when learning a language. If you fear failing a language proficiency test, don’t. You’ll be discovering where your blind spots are, and can therefore improve even more now.

Ask yourself. If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do?

You can’t fail “learning a language”. All you do is take steps back and then take more forward. Anything you do in the language today is the seed for better skills tomorrow. Don’t wait and wonder what “the best” task would be. Start today and discover that learning a language can only make you better, especially if you’re having fun.
Let failure lay the foundation for success
By: Rob Arthur
Tags: Failure, Introspection, Confidence, Mindfulness, Self-awareness

How often do we let fear of failure keep us from even trying?

We don’t attempt to improve our eating habits.

We’re afraid we won’t stick to them or they won’t work.

We don’t pursue that project or promotion.

We’re afraid we’ll drop the ball.

We don’t allow that romantic interest to develop.

We’re afraid it’ll end in heartbreak.

When we do this, we don’t only throw away any chance of success.

We also throw away the opportunity to learn.

To learn about our shortcomings.

To see what about ourselves we might improve.

To discover more about what we want and how to make it happen.

When we avoid failure, we avoid growth.

This can be a frustrating process.

Especially for the perfectionists among us.

But the lessons we learn with each iteration are invaluable.

Each failure, taking us one step closer to success.

Serving as a tool for growth.

The more you fail, the more you can learn.

The more you learn, the more you can succeed.

Take a little pressure off of yourself.

Practice some self-compassion.

Fail with courage and humility.

Let failure lay the foundation for success.

Use it as a stepping stone.

Take that step.

To move toward your best life.

You are worthy.

You’ve got this.
Failure As A Creative Starting Point
By: Omar Faruq Raed
Tags: Failure, Change, Life, Design, Creativity

As designers we are obsessed with failure. The thought itself hovers over anyone who has ever decided to use their creative ability for a purpose beyond personal satisfaction. In many ways failure is unavoidable. While it’s a prospect that we try our hardest to steer clear of I don’t personally know of a designer or creative that has not experienced failure; whether it appears in the form of a bad pitch, a failed project, a missed deadline, losing a job, or failing a module in grad school.

“…but consider this: failure is easy to understand. No explanation for its existence is required. It’s easier not to shoulder a burden. It’s easier to put off until tomorrow what needs to be done today, and drown the upcoming months and years in today’s cheap pleasures.”

I began outlining this article precisely four months ago directly after what I considered to be a massive personal and professional failure. However, instead of crumbling up and letting my creative energy die I decided to write a post where I would share the sense of hope I held onto. Hope that I could turn things around, learn from my failure and use my negative perception of reality as fuel towards something productive, something good. That didn’t happen, at least not right away.

“It is far more likely that a given individual has just decided to reject the path upward because of its difficulty. Perhaps that should even be your default assumption, when faced with such a situation…”

Failure often forces us to determine our next steps from a position that is at times harsh and unforgiving. That does not mean to say that experiencing failure is completely pointless. We can learn and gain as much from our failures as we choose to. It’s not about the singular event that happened or the thing that threw us off, it’s about what we do in the aftermath of that experience that really matters.

“If we start aiming at something different — something like “I want my life to be better” — our minds will start presenting us with new information, derived from the previously hidden world, to aid us in that pursuit.”

I planned on going over some stories of renowned designers and creatives who managed to overcome their personal demons and professional failures to go on and do great, amazing things with their talent despite the awful things life threw at them. However I realised this isn’t about them and their story, this is about mine. This is about how I’m finally starting to make peace with my failures and reframe the narrative into something good. Something I hope will give me the courage I so desperately need to chart my own path and produce work I’m genuinely proud of. Here’s to looking forward and using failure as a creative starting point.
A Lesson From Babies On Why Not to Be Afraid of Failure
By: Paul Abela
Tags: Failure, Life, Goals, Success, Life Lessons

A Lesson From Babies On Why Not to Be Afraid of Failure

Photo by the blowup on Unsplash

There are so many cliches around failing. We all know failure is essential to success, that it’s hard to get it right the first time. If anyone does, they’re either lying, or they’ve got lucky. But often the thing holding people back is the fear of failure. Failure as being ‘bad’ is so ingrained in us culturally that many people would rather not pursue their dreams, such is the fear brought on by the prospect of not achieving them.

There is a time in our lives when we don’t know how ‘bad’ or sinful it is to fail at something. If a baby had a fear of failure, they would never learn to do anything, because a baby has no starting point. It’s only by failing and making mistakes does a baby learn to adapt and improve. Let’s take walking as an example. At first, babies must learn to crawl, which is easier said than done, when you do not have the balance or coordination to do it. To crawl, the baby must learn how to balance, and in doing so, they will fall over multiple times.

The baby doesn’t think to itself; you know what, I’m done. I’ve fallen over too many times; it’s too hard, I don’t like failing, I want to be able to do it now! If a baby had that attitude, they would never reach a stage where they dare attempt to walk. Seeing how much of a struggle crawling was, walking is a leap into the unknown—terrifying territory for one who fears failure.

The baby perseveres because it has no idea of the negative cultural connotations of failure. If it did, it might well give up at learning something which on the face of it, is breathtakingly hard. It takes years for a child to master the balancing act of walking.

Perseverance in the face of difficulty is a natural instinct when we are born. Our lives literally depend on it. And the thing about walking is that if you are able-bodied, no one ‘fails’ at doing it. You don’t ever meet anyone who says I found it too hard, I became too anxious and gave up.
Just Going Beyond.
By: Groupe Intellex
Tags: 2020, Failure, 2021, Decisions, Success

Lines we crossed in 2020

Whether marking success or failure,

the lines we crossed will now,

not be erased.

They’re often crossed — for sure.

Others, pass unnoticed,

’til shattered shocks are seen,

across a new divide.

We see a tide of new awareness.

We see some, swept or dragged along,

and more were left behind.

Count your crossings — joys, regrets, confusions,

And trust lines shattered.

But hope for better,

local leadership emerged.

This year of letting go created new capacity.

Sharpened recognition of all our ills.

Called for community action.

Ahead? Another year of choices.

Will we step back? Hold the line?

Fingers crossed for fewer scars in 21.

We could all use some healing.

__________

Notes:

Created in the UK at the Winter Solstice this pause for reflection,

at the end of a decisive and divisive year, is dedicated to

Médecins Sans Frontières.
Anxiety: A necessary evil?
By: Ritvik Raj Singh
Tags: Failure, Life, Anxiety, Nature, Happiness

Making it big, a message that prevails in our modern society. It’s on everyone’s minds. The constant struggle, the pain we go through to get what we achieve makes us who we are. We are aware of failure making us a better person, a learner.

But not all of us are applying this mantra to our day to day lives. That conversation you had with your friend that pissed them off because you had to come up with an honest opinion to make their actions right. According to you, you were helping them realize their mistake. But really you were just trying to not fall in that situation again with them and wanted them to be nice to you. You are working for YOU. Constantly.

I’m not saying its not good to be self-caring in situations like these, the action is correct but the intentions behind it are not. We really need to make the right conversations in our mind. Why do you do what you do? Why do you hurt people even though it means you’re just saving yourself. You can also hurt someone now because it may do good to them. Not everything that goes downhill needs to be a bad thing.

Coming back to the statement. Failure helps you learn. Failed relationships, failed friendships, failed marriages — its just a part of a huge picture you’re painting that ends up defining you at the very end. Being kind, having empathy for the people who are doing wrong to you can really go a long way with you.

Sometimes people hurt you by saying being rude to you or disrespecting you. Just understand that you may be wrong with some of your actions that made them hurt you in revenge. But, is revenge really the answer? You can’t really stop someone from being rude to you. You can’t control someone else’s actions. YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL.

Anxiety is what makes you believe that you need to be in control because we humans tend to be entitled for being the alpha, being the one on a pedestal, being the one sole protagonist of our own movie. When you overvalue your position in the society , you start going backwards. Why’s that? We know we can make a change, we have seen people make the change in the society. Let me tell you why…

When you have the mindset of you being in control all the time you tend to fall into the chaos because naturally nothing seems to be in your hands, not even your own actions sometimes. Being a part of the chaos is okay, unless you aren’t emotionally confident enough to know that you can get through the downs in life. Failure becomes a big deal and starts looking like doom rather than it just being a setback and most of the times a medium of learning.

Nature is exteremely pedagogical, it tends to teach you at every moment of your life. Start listening to the vibrations around you and synchronize your inner vibrations with it. Start believing in the universe, and stop trying to control things around you and just believe in one thing…

You can’t control everyone or everything but you. Then why expect from the world? Start listening to what the world needs and be a person who is a giver and don’t forget to take what’s yours.
Fantastic mantra!
By: Judy Hnat
Tags: Failure, Progress, Success, Growth, Motivation

As an 18-year-old, my life is is like one big startup. Fail fast, fail forward — lessons learned every time.
Waiting For Your Ship To Come In
By: Floyd Mori
Tags: Failure, Hard Work, Life, Dedication, Success

Waiting For Your Ship To Come In

Photo by Will Waters on Unsplash

Waiting for your ship to come in can be frustrating.

It can be discouraging and depressing as well.

Sometimes you try so hard and do a lot of work,

but it seems that the rewards are not coming.

You can’t just wait for your ship to come in

and hope that someday success will arrive.

You are not a failure if you keep trying.

You need to keep working with dedication

to make your goals become a reality

and your wishes and dreams come true.

Your ship is coming.
10 things to do for young people starting their career (John C. Maxwell)
By: Sam Philipos
Tags: Failure, Careers, Success, Growth, Young Professionals

The below is a summary of an episode from the John Maxwell Leadership Podcast.

As the end of 2020 is almost here, it’s a great time to stop & reflect. For new graduates starting their careers, or have recently commenced, the below 10 points may seem simple, yet they are incredibly powerful. My suggestion to making this practical is by starting with your personal definition of success & setting up a structure for personally growing everyday.

Photo by Braden Collum on Unsplash

1. Every day grow personally. Growing has to be done intentionally with a clear plan. We need to grow ourselves in the areas of our strengths rather than weaknesses, as you can move your strengths to great strengths whilst a weakness can never be a great strength.

A helpful tool to identify strengths is strengths finder. Once you identify areas to grow in, the 3E model may help in scheduling learning everyday.

2. Ask questions. Situations can intimidate us or because we sometimes don’t humble ourselves & want to appear knowledgable. Specially when there is so much we do not know at a young age, asking the right questions can help us get there faster, smarter & easier.

I would suggest that great questions are even so more important than great answers. Harvard Business Review article & John C. Maxwell’s Good Leaders Ask Great Questions book are useful places to start on improving your questions.

No man really becomes a fool until he stops asking questions.

Charles Steinmetz.

3. Develop your personal definition of success. Tying definition of success to goals is a huge mistake. Get away from position, titles and numbers. Success is higher, bigger, much deeper than that. Maxwell’s example of his personal success: knowing my purpose in my life, growing to my potential & sowing seeds that benefit others. Everything that he does in his life is gauged against that definition.

What’s your personal definition of success? It should be yours, not anyone else's. What matters to you the most?

4. Make failure your friend by learning from it. Looking at failure as another opportunity to learn and grow. When we fail, we either learn from it or run away from it and disassociate ourselves from it. We think failure is the opposite of success, when actually it is an ingredient of success. Failure helps us become a better person. It’s part of success.
Research that is “Serious, Credible, and Cannot Be Ignored” about IT Project Failure
By: Mike Gilronan
Tags: It Project, Failure

Research that is “Serious, Credible, and Cannot Be Ignored” about IT Project Failure Mike Gilronan ·Dec 18, 2020

This article was originally posted on December 12, 2007.

I read today a terrific post on ZDNet blogs by Michael Krigsman referencing a recent study about IT project success rates by The Standish Group, and a subsequent academic study that (to a degree) refutes it.

If you’re responsible for IT projects, you may find some of the conclusions and recommendations in here worth reviewing, and you may have some of your preconceptions about the ingredients for a successful IT project challenged.
Reframing failure
Tags: Learn From Failure, Failure, Winner Mindset, Success Story, Progress

This year, I have learned that failure means I’m trying. I never saw it that way, although I was never hard on myself for failure either, but I inadvertently shied away from or stepped away from something I loved to do because I knew I wasn’t perfect. It’s hard to admit that, but I know its true. I’ve never explicitly been hard on myself, but the hidden fear and discomfort of knowing I have a long way to go made me not want to try at all. I was focusing on the results, not the journey without which results are impossible.

I’m learning to embrace the journey. I think, for me, failure looks like not being adequate or being ‘okay’ with some room to grow and I never realized how that subconscious belief holds me back. It’s hard to change that because chasing your dreams is vulnerability. Chasing what you love is vulnerability because there’s always the chance or fear that you won’t make it, so…sometimes you wanna stop trying all together. But the idea that you have no idea how somehting will turn out and you keep going anyway because you care, is magic. I need to pace myself. I need to prioritize the small steps, find joy in the one small act I take towards my dreams that will amount to the million that helps me reach the top of the mountain.

Failure isn’t real. Trying is real. Progress is real. Pain is real. But failure? That’s not real.
Failure Loop
By: Joshua Vandyke
Tags: Self Improvement, Failure, Personal Development, Money, Investing

What is it about the market that ‘works’? I mean, how do companies keep creating and innovating so consistently over time? How is it that you can invest money in your 20s and receive six times your investment when you retire in your 60s? How is it that people create value?

I’ll submit that the consistency and value of the market (of companies) and of people is directly tied to failure. You see, progress is made through trial and error. If there were no mistakes there would be nothing to learn from. The simple fact that companies and products sometimes fail is what drives innovation forward. It’s why entrepreneurs, regardless of their level of intelligence, are able to create immense value, they’re iterating on failure after failure. It’s why free markets have prevailed for centuries, failure is built into the mechanism. It’s why, on a personal level, the way that failure occurs to you will play an oversized role in your personal success. Winston Churchill famously said, “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” But it’s even better than that, failures are the milestones on the way to success, they’re what makes success possible. So next time you fail, don’t dress it up, don’t make up reasons or excuses, squeeze every bit of valuable information you can out of it. It may have actually been a huge success.
ลูกค้ารายที่สอง — ผมพอจะเห็นภาพแล้ว
Tags: Leadership, Failure, Innovation, Success, Company Culture

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Reasons Why I Lost a Potential Client
By: Victoria A. Fraser
Tags: Failure, Advice, Freelancing, Writer, Writing

“We’re going with someone cheaper”

This has happened to me a lot. It stinks, but I refuse to compromise on my rates unless there is a good reason. There are plenty of people out there who will pay for high-quality content with a larger budget. I’m willing to wait for those opportunities.

Often people find me on Upwork and send their job description to me. For some reason, they don’t always check my rates. Then we’ve both wasted each other’s time, but that’s how it goes on the internet.

If a client wants to work with me, they’ll recognize my hard work and expertise is worth it. Just the other day I had a new client reach out asking how much I charge and they told me to “be generous” to myself because the writing will involve a lot of research and work beyond simply writing the articles. I could have charged more than I normally do, but I like to prove myself first.

“I found someone local to work with”

While working with clients, sometimes they end their contract with me because they found someone in the same city. I don’t blame them at all. I’m working for people around the world in different timezones and currencies. Our relationship is vastly more complicated so that local writer is going to be a lot more convenient.

When this happens I completely understand and I let my client know that I am always happy to help if any opportunities come up again in the future. If their other writer needs time off or falls through, I’m still around.

“You took too long to reply”

This one is totally on me, but I was working on a film set and had turned off my data. The internet moves quickly. As a freelancer, I’m always keeping tabs on my phone. Sure, it sucks sometimes, but I like to be available for my clients especially when something urgent comes up.

When you can save your client’s bacon, they really appreciate it and this has helped me maintain great long-term client relationships. Also, let’s face it: I’m on my phone all the time anyway… but that’s also because all my regular hobbies are on hold because of Covid.
A Failure is an Event, Not a Final Destination
By: Devin Arrigo
Tags: Failure, Personal Development, Advice, Success, Life Lessons

A Failure is an Event, Not a Final Destination

You will fail at one point or another. That’s a fact. When that happens, you have two decisions.

You can either let the failure define you, allowing it to corrupt your whole being with doubt and uncertainty.

Or, you can understand failure for what it really is — an event, not a destination. Failure does not define you, but rather who you once were.

Failure is a hint that you’re on the right path, but you need a little more practice.

Failure is an indication of a lack of skill or proficiency, not lack of character or heart.

Don’t give up just because you’ve failed temporarily. Instead, settle in, roll up your sleeves, and work a little harder. Dig a little deeper. And always remember what failure really is.
Becoming a Winner
By: Andrew Puckett
Tags: Failure, Personal Development, Sales, Success, Business

If you’re not a winner, you’re a loser. Yep, that’s harsh, but true. Thankfully, however, winners don’t always win — in fact, winners lose 90% of the time. If losers lose and winners also lose, what makes the difference? Mindset.

Winners see life through a lens of optimism and value. Losers see life through a lens of pessimism and fear. Winners win because of how they think — losers lose because of how they think. The common denominator is the way they think.

Everything you do in life first gets initiated by your brain. The sequence of thoughts, patterns, habits, actions and outcomes start first with the way you think. If you change the way you think, you will change the world around you.

Winners face everything in life looking for opportunity — losers face everything in life looking for obstacles. A can do attitude and a can’t do attitude will both lead you down their respective paths. Chase a mindset of greatness and opportunity.

If you don’t know what you want, you won’t win. Dumb luck and consistently winning are very different. Losers float through life without clear direction, winners have a vision and pursue it. Clear goals drive action, which supplies results.

Winners are not afraid to put in the work necessary, while losers look for the easiest path. To do great things requires a tremendous amount of energy. Thankfully, winners don’t just do big things, they do thousands of the right things over and over again, eventually compounding into big results.

When faced with failure, winners learn from their mistakes — losers blame others for what went wrong. No one can fully control you except yourself, so focus on solving your problems and learning from your mistakes. To win big takes self-awareness, the ability to learn and the capacity to grow.

There is a winner in all of us — there is also a loser. The one that champions is the one we decide to feed, play with, learn about and partner with. Who will you be?

For more content and reading, visit www.andrewxpuckett.com.