Well it’s the beginning of another year, a chance to start afresh, a chance to ponder on what your dreams are and yearn more so than usual for success and achievement. At the start of each year our Facebook feeds and barbeque conversations are riddled with New Year’s Resolutions, positivity and friends proclaiming this year will be better than the last.

We have at least taken the first step to achievement and success through having these thoughts and conversations. But, have any of us actually sat down and plotted out a way to achieve those goals we desire to achieve in 2014? Have you stopped and contemplated how your attitude and actions lead you to your successes and perhaps shortfalls in 2013? If you are not happy with those results or if you want to strive for improvement then no matter how many amazing goals you make for this year you’ll struggle to achieve them without changing your thought processes. We need to first focus on our attitudes and philosophies before we can see consistent positive results in our actions.

I have found most of my successes have begun with a positive philosophy which in turn has transformed into a positive attitude and effective actions. What do I mean by saying adopt a positive philosophy? An example of a simplistic life-changing philosophy is Nike’s logo for the MTV generation ‘Just Do It.’ Often we can spend too much time over analysing opportunities, trying to outsmart the future and guess the implications in a situation, but there is immense power in taking control and just doing it. You might fail to achieve your original aim, but you are largely better off to have tried and failed than not having tried at all.  My clients often hear me say ‘the only failure, is the failure to participate.’ It’s only from participating or trying that we can possibly hope to learn and progress.

Thomas J. Watson, founder of IBM once said, “The formula for success is quite simple: double your rate of failure.”

This concept goes against the majority of societal norms but if you stop and really think about it, it makes complete sense. Stop being afraid of failure, get out there and just do it. Some of the most iconic successful people in life began with repeated failure.  Michael Jordan didn’t make the cut for his basketball varsity team as a sophomore; imagine if he let that failure stop him from trying. Steve Jobs was fired by Apple in the 80’s before becoming well-known as the reason behind Apple’s success. Henry Ford went broke 5 times in small business before making it big with his Ford Motor Company.

So I challenge you to begin 2014, not only with new inspiring goals and plans, but also try adopting a fresh, positive philosophy and consistently use it when building your attitudes and actions throughout all of your decision making, whether it’s at work or in your personal life. Remember the power in just doing it and change your perspective on failure.

“Successful people fail themselves to the top!” – Jeff Olson