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Want to Achieve Your Dreams? Learn the Art of Bouncing!

by Ann Tardy

Ann Tardy CEO Life Moxie

In spite of past failures, criticisms, and a myriad of character assassinations, Hilary Clinton is aspiring to be the first woman President. That’s moxie.

After beating the cancer that ravaged his body, Lance Armstrong trained for and raced in the Tour de France. That’s moxie.

When 16 literary agents rejected best-selling author John Grisham’s novel, A Time to Kill, he went looking for the 17^th agent. That’s moxie.

Moxie!

Moxie is the difference between people who achieve their dreams and people who just talk about their dreams. One of the essential strategies to creating moxie requires us to respond not just react when things go wrong.

Respond Don’t Just React

Whenever you experience a failure, setback, disappointment, or mistake, it’s OK to react; in fact, do your best to sob, sulk, and be defensive. Then stop. Take stock of the lessons you learned, the new information you acquired, and the new paths you discovered. And then try again – bounce back.

The Art of Bouncing

Bouncing is picking yourself up, dusting off the dirt, and getting back in the game – the game called your life. Keep moving in the direction of your beat-the-alarm-clock goal, this time with your lessons in tow. Bouncing is the relentlessness and perseverance that has you move forward in the face of everything life throws your way.

My Grandfather

My grandfather was an alcoholic. He spent most of his life at a bar drinking the money my grandmother earned. His life was a bit of a train wreck.

And then at the age of 51 he decided to bounce. He joined AA, went to college, became a counselor, volunteered as a school crossing guard, took up cycling (rode his first century at 70!), and even tried rollerblading before he passed away 38 years sober. In spite of his inventory of failures and mistakes, my grandfather mastered the art of the bounce and as a result, achieved many lifelong dreams.

The Art of the Bounce:

Be upset – snivel, pout, mope, blubber, scream.
Revisit your dreams – remember the important part (the mistake is not important)
What lesson did you learn from your mistake or failure?
What new information do you have?
What can you do next with this new information?

When the fire in your belly roars with dreams, care more about accomplishing them than you do about the fact that you failed or made a mistake. Greatness can result from any mistake or failure, as long as you learn to bounce.

Ann Tardy is the CEO of LifeMoxie!^® Enterprises, the performance solutions company. She is the author of LifeMoxie!^® Ambition on a Mission^™ 9 Strategies for Taking Life by the Horn. To learn more visit the LifeMoxie website.