Success takes work, but you won't be sorry.

Michael Jordan will probably go down in history as one of the best basketball players of all time. Even if you don’t follow professional sports, you’ve likely seen him on commercials for Nike tennis shoes, hotels, and underwear.

But, I love what he had to say about failure. “I’ve missed more than nine thousands shots in my career. I’ve lost almost three hundred games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.”

You see, you can’t win unless you play the game. Yes, you risk losing, but just over the horizon, success is waiting, and it’s worth fighting for.

Every time your attempt fails, you’ve ruled out one more thing that doesn’t work.

Don’t give in to the voice of fear that continues to tell you that you can’t do it, or reminds you that you’ve tried before and failed. Don’t make excuses for all the reasons it won’t work.

Failure is when you stop trying, and give up. It takes courage to keep going and takes you out of your comfort zone. However, you won’t ever really grow in your comfort zone where there’s no risk.

Right now, there’s something that I’ve been putting off. I find every reason in the book to procrastinate and do everything else. I’ve subconsciously told myself that I can’t do it because I don’t have the skills.

The truth is that I’d rather not even try than to try and not be able to do it. This paralyzes the best of us.

Attack one problem at a time, and before you know it, you’ll be able to see all that you’ve accomplished. Know that there will be setbacks, but keep going. Those setbacks can be turned into re-sets that give you another opportunity to start over.

Well, I guess I’d better get to work. That project is calling my name.