You don’t have to have full-blown fear of failure to be concerned. When you start working on a new goal, it’s common sense to think that you may fail at it. In fact, unless your goal is not at all challenging, you most likely will fail, at least in some of the details.

So how do you handle failure when you are working on achieving a new goal? Well, it’s simple. Try your best to embrace it. Think of each failure as a lesson in the school of hard knocks. And when you graduate, boy, will you be smart.

Try not to take failure personally. Admittedly, that’s easier said than done. After all, you have chosen your goal because it is something you truly desire. You have focused on the goal and committed time, energy, and possibly money to reach it. Surely it’s hard not to take failure personally. Continue reading →

When people give advice about how to dress at work, they will frequently say, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.”

The idea is that you should look and conduct yourself like the person you want to become. Go as though. Proceed as if.

A secretary who wants to be an account executive, for example, should dress the part, avoiding casual clothes at work. The advice can be taken beyond wardrobe.

Therefore, she should also build relationships with potential clients, be an ambassador for the company, and try to win business.

Following the same train of thought, affirmations should be stated in the present tense. It’s as though the thing that you are affirming already exists. Continue reading →