7. Redefine Failure.
Before I went into advertising, I was a newspaperwoman. One day, while I was in college in Indiana, and editing the school paper, I decided to see if there might be any work available at the city newspaper, the Terre Haute Star.
I brazenly walked into the newsroom and asked for the editor. I showed him my clippings and explained that I would accept a position as either a reporter or editor. The editor scanned my stories for a minute. “Sorry,” he said. “We’re not hiring paper dolls right now. We need experienced reporters.”
Walking out of there, I was livid. I remember thinking, I’m going to show those people. So I looked up the street and saw Meis department store, the largest store in Terre Haute at the time. I walked in and asked to speak to the advertising manager – which was how I did things then. We talked for a few minutes and then fortune winked. “As a matter of fact,” he said, “I’m looking for a copy girl. We can give it a try.” Within a year, I was his assistant and earning about $10,000, making me the highest paid woman in Terre Haute.
I’ve failed many times, in many ways, over the years, but I’ve tried to always see it as an opportunity. Think of it this way: Don’t make a lot of room for failure in your life, but understand that it is inevitable. Accept it. Use it. Redefine it – not as a calamity but as a necessity. Success is often a liar. Failure is what keeps us honest.
8. Get Lost.
What can I do with myself? How can I give back to my world? Those were the questions I kept asking myself after my husband died in 1983. I spent weeks “getting lost” – going for long walks by myself – and eventually the answer arrived: I would fund-raise for a local chamber orchestra. It was an answer that led to a new career – as the founder and CEO of what became the Philharmonic Center Cultural Complex, a $105 million arts complex in Southwest Florida.
Being able to change perspective is one of the most valuable, but neglected, aspects of success. Getting lost means escaping from yourself, taking a vacation from your routines and your problems. Getting lost inspires and replenishes. It can also be an effective means of problem-solving.
Getting lost is often the best way of really finding ourselves.
(Adapted from the book Secrets of a Rutbuster: Breaking Rules and Selling Dreams, by Myra Janco Daniels. Daniels is a former advertising executive who is currently founder and CEO of the Philharmonic Center Cultural Complex in Naples, Florida.)
