One of my clients was telling my about a book he found called Heroes for My Son. The book tells you little known things about famous people. For example, we all know that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. But did you know that it was 25 years before he took the credit for it? He didn’t yell out “Look what I wrote”. He was humble about one of the most important documents ever written.

But the story I want to focus on is the one about Orville and Wilbur Wright. Every time they went flying, they took spare parts with them, because they expected the plane was going to crash and they would have to fix it. In other words, they planned for failure. But they didn’t plan on quitting. They planned on learning from their experience.

Failure is something that we all have to face from time to time. So, have a positive perspective on failure and remember that when you fail, you are once step closer to where you want to be. You can choose to learn from the experience and change your attitude toward it. Turn it into something powerful and constructive.

Instead of spending all your time trying to avoid failure, make a plan so you are prepared when it does happen. Accept the reality that sometimes you will fail and don’t quit. Have a Plan B so you are confident and sure in yourself. And don’t forget the spare parts!