Dumbed into success

When I hear someone say they “dumbed into” a good situation, I think it’s disappointing. 

While that person may be trying to appear humble, I believe they are losing out on several things.

First of all, success is great and it should be celebrated; it should be enjoyed. Secondly, success can be learned from, because failure should be as well. If we don’t learn from success because we “dumbed into it” are we saying we likewise don’t learn from our failures?

Barry LaBov

LABOV Marketing Communications and Training

www.labov.com

Genuine

Nobody is perfect, but anyone can be genuine.

Being genuine costs nothing and is priceless. Whether in business, personal relationships or politics, the genuine person benefits no matter how much he or she lacks in brilliance or beauty.

We buy “genuine.” We avoid the person who tries to look good or agree or takes the easiest path. Often, the person who isn’t genuine doesn’t trust that he or she will get their due, but others will sense that distrust and go elsewhere.

Barry LaBov

LABOV Marketing Communications and Training

www.labov.com

Failing good, part III

Being too afraid to fail will lead to avoiding risk, which drastically reduces the number of opportunities available to us. Being overly concerned about risk stifles creativity and prevents us from realizing the big successes that might be on the horizon. Risk-aversion essentially places us in shackles—we can’t move forward, we can’t grow, we can’t live. We are stuck.

Conversely, failure is freeing. When we fail, what we’ve dreaded has happened, but we’re still alive (hopefully). Failure opens up a realm of possibilities for how to move forward—if we have the tenacity to try again.

Barry LaBov

LABOV Marketing Communications and Training

www.labov.com