We’re just too hard on ourselves.

No one wins all the time.

It’s not how many times you succeed, it’s still trying when the right moment comes along that matters.

Fear of failure is the worst fate of all because no one can give it to you unless you believe it.

Even failures are rehearsals for future success.

Would you tie your own hands behind your back knowingly and willingly?

That’s exactly what we do when we constantly fear failing.

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I can.

I’ve done it before, I can do it again.

I’ll never stop trying.

What doesn’t kill me will only make me stronger if I never give up.

Hope.

Trust in self.

Resilience.

When facing a crisis, it helps to repeat words like these that will foster a good outcome.

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If you’ve ever played softball, baseball or other sports, we can’t wait to get in there and take a swing at the ball, can we?

Even if we strike out three times in a row, we’re anxious to jump back in and try again.

This is not how most people live life.

We give up too easily, come up with reasons why we’ve done our best, shy away from trying again after a certain point.

We just accept a swing and a miss.

To change that and harness the power of persistence, think of everything you do like a baseball game.

In baseball, if you drop the ball, you actually want the next batter to hit it to you againso you can make amends. No licking wounds, no excuses.

That’s how to live life and increase the chance of winning because there is always the next opportunity to succeed.

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I was honored to work as an instructor for Wynn Etter, a Dale Carnegie sponsor in Cherry Hill, NJ.

Wynn was a force to be reckoned with – a ball of enthusiasm and positivity.  A man who could lift your spirits within the first two sentences out of his mouth.

He often could sense when I had doubts and he would say, “you can do it, tiger”.

Me a tiger?  I guess so if this force of nature thinks so.

Wynn came down with cancer later in life.

All through his treatment which went on for many years, Wynn lived an exemplary life of a person who had to deal with adversity while remaining positive.

How?

He always made it about you.

I would say “How are you feeling Wynn?”

“Great, tell me about your book, Jerry” and he’d be off and running to avoid sulking, sorrow and sympathy.

He lived for years, joined a gym for the first time when he was 65 and taught me by his example that helping others lift their spirits had the simultaneous effect of lifting his.

Wynn died a few years back but as you can read today, he’s very much alive in me.

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Not money – money is nice, amazingly people want and need  it but don’t crave it.

Not lots of friends – yes, friends are important but the number isn’t compelling.

Good health? – certainly, it is hoped for, expected and appreciated but people only seem to crave good health when they are faced with grave illness.

Power?  It’s a drug, wears off quickly and needs to be constantly fed.

The number one thing people crave is compassion.

Sympathy, pity, concern for their problems and sorrows.

And in the end, we do, too.

The perfect gift that makes people crave you is the ability to treat them with compassion.

Listen, relate, feel the pain and connect.

Since we know this is universally true, developing our ability to be compassionate toward others should be our main mission at work, at home and with ourselves.

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