Thursday, November 22, 2007

Keep Moving Forward 4

To begin to experience breakthroughs in our life we must demolish an obstacle that, for some people, holds us back from experiencing life at its fullest. That obstacle is failure.

This week we are digging into three points we have extrapolated from a quote by Walt Disney. Part 1 and Part 2 set the stage for this weeks blog posts, while Part 3 hit on the first point, Keep Moving Forward. Today, I want to discuss the second point: OPEN UP NEW DOORS.

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things - because we're curious. And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. We're always exploring and experimenting.” Walt Disney

When and where you have experienced failure in the past tends to be an area where you focus negative energy. Sometimes that failure might be in an area which simply isn't one of your strengths or talents. That is why it is sometimes important to open up new doors. Try another arena in which you might find that breakthrough outlet.

I teach science this year and one of the concepts is scientific investigation. This is where you observe a problem and try to come up with a solution. You create a guess and then you experiment until you come up with a proven theory.

I think that is what opening up new doors is about. It is about going forward until you find that exact door that creates a breakthrough. Truth is you won't find that if you aren't trying.

Thomas Edison, in talking about the light bulb, was quoted as saying "I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work."

Edison was the king of the empirical approach in which he literally tried everything until he found a suitable way to the answer to a problem. I believe he kept opening up new doors. He kept moving forward. He didn't personalize failure, he looked at it as success.

Matthew 7:7 says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

When it comes to you getting your breakthrough you must keep knocking and opening up new doors. Whether it's in your personal life or in your business or organization, don't look back. Keep progressing from one door to the next. I know it's risky. The reality, though, is that not taking risks increases the odds of failure. Open new doors today.

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