We all have some concept of who we want to be and how we want to be, that perfected self image. The problem is how we view ourselves on this pendulum of the final image and where we are.

And the problem is exactly when we consider the final image as a destination to reach. The only destination we will all reach for sure is DEATH. the rest is a journey towards it.

If you consider the final image of what/where you are aiming to be/get, many people tell you to imagine being already there, feeling rich, feeling happy, and so on…

However, the problem is that once you set that image and you start pretending to be. The advice above is to empower you to feel that in all parts of your journey you are already on the right path, journey and that there is no final destination. Unfortunately, society has built this fairy tale image of HEROES which exemplifies and glorifies those who reach a particular destination.

Just think of all the rock and film stars. Many of them fall into a deep depression after they reach that glorious height. They had set themselves this goal which they worked hard to get to, but when they get to that stop there is nothing. The glory and the media are a short celebration and next come the Paparazzi. Suddenly they find themselves trapped in one station and having no further goals they start defending their ground. Think of any sports, when an athlete wins a game, they have only won that game, that championship for that season. In no time the season will repeat. If the Champion starts believing that they are a Champion forever then soon they will find themselves defending a ground rather than fighting for the next goal, but those that set themselves different goals carry on holding the championship. At each stop, they only look at it as one stage and aim for the next. Just like the Moroccan mountain climber, Bouchra Baibanou, who after climbing each summit, celebrates her achievement and then sets herself another goal.

As startup founders, we all want to succeed and we are all aiming to reach the heights of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and …., and the feeling of insecurity will soon set in after the first few years of setbacks. Unable to deal with failing to reach the goals we had set ourselves in the time limit we had given ourselves, we start feeling inadequate and sometimes we start building this image of what we should have been by that point in our life. That’s where it all goes wrong.

STOP. yes. STOP. I had to do that, I had to pull the breaks hard, hit the ground hard, and get up. Only then was I able to see the reality, I was where I was and there was nothing wrong with where I was. It was a million times better than many other stops and a million times different from all other stops. It was just one stop in my journey. Once I started walking again, I started running, and then I started enjoying the walk, the moment, at my pace from one station to the next. All I know is that there will be many more stations and each station is as beautiful as the last one and what is most beautiful is the scenery and the journey between these stops.

This article is Tip number 3 on a series of posts highlighting The Power of Failure and how you can use it to your advantage. In the last blog post, we looked at how to deal with excess energy and stop it from turning into aggression.

In the next blog post, we shall look at the letter L in FAILURE. The letter L for Loneliness and how to remove the L and turn it into OneNess.

I am a motivational speaker helping incubators, accelerators, schools, and startup bootcamps. Do you want to motivate your crowd and help them get over adversities? Give me a call.