My Love/Hate Relationship with Failure

I hate failure! It's the worst thing that can happen to me. I say this to myself when I haven't heard from the ten agents I queried about my latest picture book.

I love failure! It's the best thing that can happen to me. I say this to myself after the agents have ignored me because they don't want to represent my manuscript, and I've found five small presses that publish self-help books for children.

 Why does it take a negative like this to motivate me to further action? Diann Thomas has said No only means next. I keep this in mind and muddle on through the writing which I love to do and the marketing which I hate to do.

How do I get from the hate feelings to the love feelings?

lds.org

1.         I am not content with failure.

            My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with    your failure. Abraham Lincoln

2.         I will continue to try even though I fail.

            Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out. Ben Franklin.

3.         Failure tells me know I'm going somewhere.

            Failures are the fingerposts on the road to achievement. C.S. Lewis

4.         I know I am getting closer to my goal, and I don't want to give up.

            Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success   then they gave up. Thomas A. Edison

5.         I must act successful even if I don't feel successful if I'm going to get anywhere.

            You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure. Zig Ziglar

6.         Finally, it isn't about failure and success at all, but the value of the concepts I write about.

            Try not to become a man of success, but try to become a man of value. A. Einstein.