Failure scares people. Rejection can be a painful experience. Many people are more scared to give a speech in front of their peers than they are of death itself. It seems ridiculous, but the reality is that for many many people, the anxiety associated with failure crippling.

The flipside (the Truth) is, if you embrace failure as something inevitable and natural, something that’s bound to happen, it actually becomes a good thing. Failing gets your mistakes out of the way and makes room for improvement. In sales, getting nine “No’s” out of ten gets you closer to hearing the “Yes” you’ve waited for. Along the way you’ll learn what circumstances and skills help attain success.

When I fear failure, I ask myself:

a.) Will anyone get severely injured or die if I make this mistake? No.
b.) If Earth were to explode tomorrow, would I really see Angelina Jolie or just a regular person?

Extreme? Yes. Effective? Very. It checks my state of mind, fast.

Athletes combat their fear every time they step out on the court. The enormous weight of public pressure doesn’t keep them from playing; they know that each game someone has to lose. They don’t sit on the bench each time they feel a pang of fear.

Bill Gates faced an enormous amount of rejection to get Microsoft to it’s height today. Each “No” he received improved his product and brought him closer to achieving the high standard and success we associate with Microsoft.

It takes a lot of experience to meet failure with courage. Why not get started and quickly get the pesky rejections out of the way?