Sharing Is Caring! — Make a Difference!

Pause for just a moment and consider those in your life who belong to the younger generation. Consider children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, neighbors, those in your church and community. Have you ever taken just a few minutes to sit and chat with them? I’m not talking about asking them how to use your iPod or cell phone. I mean chatting about life in general. You might be pleasantly surprised at what can come out of a short encounter like that.

If you are one of the select few who have had such a chat, did you discuss failure? Most of us, thinking we’re doing the right thing, focus on success. By the way, that’s a good thing. We need to do more of that. However, we also need to balance that rhetoric by shedding a little reality on the subject of failure and how critical our approach to failure can be in achieving true success. Our younger generation needs to hear this, and they need to hear it from us.

Are the young people in your life worth 10 to 15 minutes of your time? Sit with them and share the following video. It runs for only one minute and sixteen seconds! It’s short and to the point. It provides critical examples of historic people who had to deal with failure. In less than a minute and a half, it shares some valuable insight about Abe Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Lucille Ball, the Beatles, and Michael Jordan. Watch it together and then share your own insight to these people, what they’ve accomplished, how they impacted our country, and how they dealt with and overcame failure and contributed to society.

This very short video will give you a foundation on which you can build a very powerful, interesting, and productive discussion. Your young charges need to hear that failing does not make them a failure … that to stumble is not to fall … that mistakes are building blocks. No one can deliver that message better than YOU.

P.S. To be safe, invest another few minutes on Google prior to your chat researching any of people above you may not be too familiar with. Enjoy and share your results with others. You’ll appreciate your investment and solidify these key relationships. These chats will be remembered and passed on for years to come.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services.