Ya know… clichés are cliché for a reason – there are elements of truth to them.

Here’s one, “It’s not how many times you fall down but how many times you get back up.”

In business and in life, it’s always those who choose to get back up, no matter the cost, that find ultimate success, and… dare I say, happiness?  Those are the folks who rise above mediocrity – never mind the amount of ridicule and pain he may have had to endure striving to be exceptional.

The fact that he failed doesn’t phase him – he does not dwell on the failure and does not define himself by those failures.  In fact, he defines himself by how he overcomes those minor setbacks and focuses on how he can learn and grow from them.

Much power is it to the man who’s able to humble himself during those times of weakness and darkness, during those times when nothing seems to be going right and all hope seem lost.  Much power to the man who’s able to look within himself for the cause of those failings and to grow from them.

Self awareness must take place before self transformation can take place.

And believe me, we should all strive for self transformation – like a caterpillar to a gorgeous emperor butterfly – from who we are today, to somebody better tomorrow.

But also believe me this… while many of us may understand the need and desire for self transformation, few of us understand the need for self awareness – the uncanny and scary process of looking ourselves in the mirror and seeing the ugliest side of us, the side we are ashamed of, the side that’s holding us back from success, the side that’s been lying to us, that’s been hiding the ultimate truth from us.

So I implore you, when you fall, get up.  And beyond that, understand why you fell, understand what you did to contribute to that failure as opposed to looking for excuses and casting blame on other factors.  Learn from your failures, grow from them and you shall prosper.

Raymond Fong