We often think of failure as a worst case scenario. Fear of failure holds us back from realising our dreams and sometimes fear of being seen as a failure holds us back from even talking about our dreams.
Barbara Corcoran is, by all accounts, a study in success. After she graduated in 1971 she did a brief stint of teaching, but decided that ultimately she wanted to be her own boss. Aided with a loan from her boyfriend, she started a real estate business in 1973. That business went on to sell for $66 million in 2001.
Barbara’s story is an incredible one, but she has a message for all aspiring business women. Failure isn’t what you think it is. Barbara is adamant that all her best successes came on the heels of failure, and wants to share her experiences of failure as a starting point for success. Rethinking failure isn’t an easy task, we’re hard-wired to think of failure as a shameful outcome to an ill-advised venture, failing in exams meant you didn’t study hard enough, failing to grow your business could mean loss of money and credibility. It’s a scary prospect but Barbara shares her first hand experience of using failure to fuel her successes.
Watch Barbara’s inspiring talk on re-imagining failure below and let us know your experiences with failure:
Photo: Pinterest