I owe everything to failure. I couldn't have been such a success if I hadn't failed time and time again. As a kid, I was rubbish at spelling. Who'd have guessed I'd go on to invent the life-coaching science of Letterology©? Here's an example: if you Fall, you get up, and Fail is just one letter different. So what's stopping you? Change a different letter and Fail becomes Sail. Without sailing close to the wind, you'll never weather the storm. Aye-aye, Cap'n and all aboard! Go away, stowaway. Get on board and take it to the bridge.
F-A-I-L doesn't mean what you think it means. Re-frame it, and it becomes Future Advantage Is Looming. Simple, isn't it? Yet mighty powerful. It's one heck of a switch. Are you ready for it? People think you could never become a global guru if you failed. Well I did. Granted, those failures were a while back and now Succeedership© follows me wherever I go. It just turns up – like a good smell. Who woulda thought that the loon-panted boy hugging the wall at the disco would become an international commentator on Personal Self-Enhancement©? I worked at it. I didn't just flirt with failure. I embraced her. I took her home to meet the family. I went all the way and came out the other side.
Look at the great failures of history. Julius Caesar couldn't get a girlfriend. Einstein couldn't get a job – except as a librarian. Abraham Lincoln – shot in the box at a theatre. Ouch. And Bono – he still hasn't found what he's looking for. Failure drives me. Other people's, I mean. I sniff it out. I expunge it. Only someone who has been through a painful divorce could be a successful relationship coach. Only someone who fully understands his masculinity could run an Empowerment Workshop for Ladies. I would empathize if I hadn't been hurt so bad. And what use would that be to a bunch of miserable girls? What becomes of the broken-hearted? This one became a Mender of Hearts. Surrender to the Heart Mender, ladies. You'll be off and running again in no time.
I first realized I could transform lives when I was ten. That's when I re-aligned my name. I became Vaughan. V is for Victory. Vitality. And Vanity. Perfect. L is for Leslie. Not so perfect. Of course, there have been some failures since then. Who wouldn't be angry that the chilled distribution outfit that he sold for £1 went on to be a multi-million operation in just five years? Not me. If you don't dare to fail, you fail to dare. If you want one, you gotta have the other. Always lurking behind Dan Dare is Dan Fail (I'm talking metaphorically here). But don't get them confused. Who Dares Wins is not the same as Who Fails Wins. The difference is crucial. That was one helluva lesson for me to learn. I had no idea that waitress would turn out to be so strong. I had no idea that lemur would fight back. I had no idea my ex-wife was sleeping with my former business partner. Or that UK sales of chilled foods would be worth EUR7.95 billion by 2005. But now I do. You see how failure is the flipside of success? If I hadn't dared I wouldn't now be cruisin' in sixth gear on the Motorway of Motivitality©, which knows no borders. Quite literally.
Think of Machu Picchu in Peru. Symbol of the Inca Fail? No way, José! Maybe the Spaniards took all their gold, but who welcomes millions of tourists to this ancient Holy Place today? And who's stuck with paella, David Beckham and Easyjet? Si Señor – muchos gracias and ¿me pasas los tortillas, amigo?!
Dare to Fail. Let it be your Holy Grail.
