[GordonJ]

Failure. Most success has had failure.

I'll begin this with a story from friend of the forum, Steve DiMarco. Steve relates a chat he had with Fred DeLuca, of Subway fame and fortune.

Face to face Steve asked Fred about his failures. Fred's eyes lit up and he showed great enthusiasm for the question. He told Steve no one ever asks him about his failures and he has a lot to say on the subject.

Fred said he had acquired the idea he had a "Midas" touch when it came to business, this after becoming a rich man from Subway's fortunes.

People approached Fred and asked him what could they invest in, and as a result Fred started many businesses, using OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY, he didn't invest his own...

and most of them failed and lost millions. The few marginal ones barely got the investors money back to them.

Fred felt bad, but none of his investors hated him, they knew, understood and were willing to take the risk, to get the big jackpot Fred hit with Subway.

A couple of years with new companies, Fred, a smart man, came to the conclusion he was fooled by his own press, and perhaps he wasn't the business genius everyone told him he was.

He gained a big dose of humility. But, he didn't lose his money, only the money of people who also thought he had the "Midas" touch.

I've been around many rich men, and no matter where their wealth came from, so many of them had that "Midas" idea about themselves, and I learned that money may make men richer, it doesn't make them any smarter.

Lots of arrogance with the rich, but even great Entrepreneurs go bankrupt, some time and time again.

The people I've dealt with, most of the multi-millionaires acknowledge their failure as quickly as they accept the kudos for their success.

One problem I've encountered through the years is, too many people can't handle more than one or two failures and then, quit trying.

It is a bit different when a failure is into the millions, but the hurt is even greater when it is a personal attempt.

Easy for Google to lose 100 million, harder for us to lose 25,000 in a biz op because we were stupid to begin with.

But, most success regards failure as progress, a hurdle they get around on the path to success.

How about you, how do you see failure?

GordonJ