Tony Robbins: Why we do what we do

Biomedical Engineer Named Recipient of Drexel University's Anthony J. Drexel Exceptional Achievement Award

Released: 5/19/2009 11:35 AM EDT 
Source Newsroom: Drexel University

Newswise — Biomedical engineering pioneer James J. Collins, known for his work in improving the brain functions of stroke victims, has been named the recipient of Drexel University's inaugural Anthony J. Drexel Exceptional Achievement Award, Drexel University Interim President C.R. "Chuck" Pennoni announced May 14.

Collins, University Professor, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Center for BioDynamics in the College of Engineering at Boston University, accepted the $100,000 award at the Translational Medicine Alliance Forum on May 14, 2009, in Philadelphia.

The Anthony J. Achievement Award was created to recognize collaborative, multidisciplinary research focused on real-world solutions that change society. Collins' research led to the development of a new class of medical devices that addressed complications resulting from diabetic neuropathy, restored brain function following stroke and improved balance in the elderly.

"We have established the Anthony J. Drexel Exceptional Achievement Award to build new connections to the national research community and celebrate the transformative work going on in American labs. Drexel is committed to translational or "use-inspired" research," said Pennoni.

Collins' research combines elements of physics, mathematics and bioengineering to study and improve the function of physiological and biological systems. Besides a distinguished record as a researcher, Collins has also demonstrated an entrepreneurial drive and desire to apply his research to improve medical science.

"Collins exemplifies the translational researcher, developing new fields of study in biomedicine geared not only toward intellectual pursuits but also toward developing solutions," said Pennoni.

A recipient of the National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award, Collins has been named to the Technology Review TR100 and the Scientific American 50. He is an elected fellow of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Collins is also the recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship and MacArthur "Genius" Award and was recently selected as an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a first for a Boston University faculty member.

Collins co-founded Afferent Corporation to commercialize his patented neurostimulation technology. His work in systems biology on the reverse-engineering of gene networks to identify drug targets, biological mediators and disease biomarkers led him to cofound Cellicon Biotechnologies. And he recently invented and reduced to practice a network biology platform for identifying targets for combination therapies involving RNA interference molecules. This platform has been licensed by NetEffect Pharmaceuticals, a company he co-founded with Flagship Ventures. Collins is known as an exemplary faculty member, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses continuously and serving as research supervisor and mentor to students and postdoctoral fellows.

He has received numerous teaching awards including the 2000 Metcalf Cup and Prize for Excellence in Teaching, which is the highest teaching honor awarded by Boston University and was named Professor of the Year in the College of Engineering in 1999 and 2008.

The Anthony J. Drexel Exceptional Achievement Award is presented to recognize a member of a U.S. institution whose work transforms both research and the society it serves. The innovative translational research of this individual advances the frontiers of the field, with outcomes that address unmet problems in health care or otherwise touch the lives of people. This inaugural year, the award is devoted to biomedical engineering or the life sciences. The $100,000 prize was donated to Drexel by an anonymous alumnus. The award is named for Drexel University founder Anthony J. Drexel.

This inaugural year, the award was devoted to biomedical engineering or the life sciences. The selection was based on criteria that included impact of an individual's research and discovery on new medical treatments to address societal needs, effectiveness in translating basic research and development of new technology to clinical trials and/or treatment approaches.

sumber : http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/552548/?sc=rssn&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NewswiseScinews+%28Newswise%3A+SciNews%29

15 SPECTACULAR TRICKS FOR YOUR BODY !!!!

1.) If you've got an itch in your throat, scratch
your ear. When the
nerves in the ear get stimulated, they create a
reflex in the throat
that causes a muscle spasm, which cures the itch.

2.) Having trouble hearing someone at a party or on
the phone?
Use your right ear it's better at picking up rapid
speech. But, the left is better at picking up music
tones.

3.) If you need to relieve yourself BADLY, but
you're not anywhere
near a bathroom, fantasize about RELATIONS. That
preoccupies your brain and distracts it.

4.) Next time the doctor's going to give you an
injection, COUGH as
the needle is going in. The cough raises the level of
pressure in your
spinal canal, which limits the pain sensation as it
tries to travel to
your brain.

5.) Clear a stuffed nose or relieve sinus pressure by
pushing your
tongue against the roof of your mouth then
pressing a finger between
your eyebrows. Repeat that for 20 seconds it
causes the vomer bone
to rock, which loosens your congestion and clears
you up.

6.) If you ate a big meal and you're feeling full as
you go to sleep,
lay on your left side. That'll keep you from
suffering from acid reflux it keeps your stomach
lower than your esophagus, which will helps
keep stomach acid from sliding up your throat.

7.) You can stop a toothache by rubbing ice on the
back of your
hand, on the webbed area between your thumb and
index finger.
The nerve pathways there stimulate a part of the
brain that blocks
pain signals from your mouth.

8.) If you get all messed up on liquor, and the room
starts spinning, put your hand on something stable.
The reason: Alcohol dilutes the blood in the part of
your ear called the cupula, which regulates balance.
Putting your hand on something stable gives your
brain another reference point, which will help make
the world stop spinning.

9.) Stop a nose bleed by putting some cotton on your
upper gums right behind the small dent below your
nose and press against it hard. Most of the bleeding
comes from the cartilage wall that divides the nose,
so pressing there helps get it to stop.

10.) Nervous? Slow your heart rate down by blowing
on your thumb. The vagus nerve controls your heart
rate, and you can calm it down by breathing.
11.) Need to breathe underwater for a while?

Instead of taking a huge breath, HYPERVENTILATE
before you go under, by taking a bunch of short
breaths. That'll trick your brain into thinking it has
more oxygen, and buy you about 10 extra seconds.

12.) You can prevent BRAIN FREEZE by pressing
your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth,
covering as much surface area as possible. Brain
freeze happens because the nerves in the roof of
your mouth get extremely cold, so your brain thinks
your whole body is cold. It compensates by
overheating which causes your head to hurt. By
warming up the roof of your mouth, you'll chill your
brain and feel better.

13.) If your hand falls asleep, rock your head from
side to side. That'll wake your hand or arm up in
less than a minute. Your hand falls asleep because
of the nerves in your neck compressing so loosening
your neck is the cure. If your foot falls asleep,
that's governed by nerves lower in the body, so you
need to stand up and walk around.

14.) Finally, this one's totally USELESS, but a nice
trick. Have someone stick their arm out to the side,
straight, palm down. Press down on his wrist with
two fingers. He'll resist, and his arm will stay
horizontal. Then, have him put his foot on a
surface that's half an inch off the ground, like a
stack of magazines, and do the trick again. Because
his spine position is thrown off, his arm will fall
right to his side, no matter how much he tries to
resist.

15.) Got the hiccups? Press thumb and second
finger over your
eyebrows until the hiccups are over - usually, in a
short while.

Petua Mencari Barang Yang Hilang

Pernahkan anda terlupa di mana letaknya barang yang anda simpan di dalam rumah kerana terlalu lama disimpan ataupun barang itu hilang di kawasan halaman rumah ataupun di mana juga? Untuk mencarinya bukanlah perkara yang mudah dan mungkin sehingga berpeluh dibuatnya pun masih belum berhasil untuk menemuinya. Untuk membantu anda mudah untuk mencari sesuatu yang anda cari, amalkanlah petua ini:

Petua 1

Baca SELAWAT (berulang-ulang kali) ketika anda sedang mencari barang itu sambil fikiran anda ingatkan kembali bilakah waktu akhir anda Nampak atau pegang barang itu. Sekiranya barang itu masih ada di dalam rumah anda, anda akan menemuinya semula.

Petua 2

Baca:
1. Al-Fatihah 7 kali
2. Al Fath 1-3 7 kali
3. Al Khafi Ayat 19 7 kali
4. Surah Al-Ikhlas 7 kali
5. Selawat 7 kali
6. Ya Allah 3 kali.
7. Kemudian wirid 'Ya Hafiz' 119 kali
8. Sesudah selesai semuanya, tadahkan tangan lalu berdoa, mohon dari ALLAH pertolongan supaya dipulang/digantikan barang yang hilang tersebut.

Petua 3: Doa yang menjadi amalan para awliya’ dan solihin yang terdapat di dalam kitab Bustanul Arifin (Taman Orang-orang yang A’rifin / Ahlillah / Awliya’ Allah) tulisan Imam an Nawawi. Imam Nawawi meriwayatkan doa ini daripada kitab Risalah al Qusyairiah tulisan Imam Abul Qasim al Qusyairi radiyAllahu anhu di dalam bab ‘Karamah Awliya’.

Doanya:

“ Ya Jami’an Naasi li yaumil la raiba fihi, ijma’ alayya dhollati”

Maksudnya: “ Wahai Tuhan yang menghimpunkan manusia pada hari yang tiada keraguan padanya,himpunkanlah aku dengan barang aku yang hilang itu.”

Berkata Imam Nawawi: “ Sebenarnya doa ini telah saya cuba maka saya mendapatinya sangat bermanfaat dan menjadi sebab untuk mencari barang yang hilang itu dengan tidak bersusah payah mencarinya. Barang itu juga tidak jauh dari tempat yang kita sangka. Saya juga telah mendengar perkara yang sama daripada Sheikh al Hafiz Abu Baqa’ ketika beliau mengajarkan doa ini dahulu kepada saya.”

How To Avoid Lightning Strikes

How To Avoid Lightning Strikes

By Rod Brouhard, About.com Guide

Updated April 06, 2010

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), from 1977 to 2006 lightning killed an average of 61 people per year, more than either tornadoes or hurricanes for the same time period. Only floods were responsible for more deaths in that time.

Lightning facts from the NWS:

• 25 million cloud-to-ground lightning strikes occur in the United States each year
• Lightning can heat its path five times hotter than the surface of the sunOne ground lightning stroke can generate between 100 million and 1 billion volts of electricity
• Knowing where to go when thunderstorms approach is the best defense against lightning.
  Difficulty: Easy
  Time Required: As soon as possible until 30 minutes after last lightning

  Here's How:

Use Better Tools to Be a Better Student in 2010

Despite the proliferation of laptops and netbooks, the vast majority of students still use their computers like $500 typewriters. Stop working so hard and be a better student by leveraging some clever computer tools to your advantage.

Photo by Brad K..

Every semester I get a new wave of college freshman into my classroom, most of them armed with laptops. For the last several semesters, I have been informally tracking how they use their computers. I always assumed that my students were using their computers to their full potential to help them with school, research, and such, but almost all of them were simply using their laptops as extremely expensive typewriters and instant-messaging terminals.

What good is all the computing power of the pre-1960s world sitting on your lap if you're not using it to make college life easier? The following is a guide for students everywhere that want to spend less time on the tedious stuff, and more time on the things like study and research that actually produce results.

Never Do Anything Yourself That Your Computer Can Do For You

Never, ever, do something the hard way without checking to see if any easy way exists. Applications come in every shape and form to automate tasks on the computer. Never undertake a tedious task on your computer without first visiting a search engine and searching for a method of automating it. Whether you're resizing photos for a class project, renaming files, or crunching numbers in a spreadsheet, check for the simple—and automatic!—way first. Photo bystriatic.

Biomedical Engineer: Career Information

By Dawn Rosenberg McKay, About.com Guide

Job Description:

Give a biomedical engineer a problem having to do with biology or medicine and he or she will analyze and then figure out how to solve it. They design prosthetic limbs and artificial organs, as well as the material that is used to manufacture them. They develop software that is used to run medical equipment. Like those working in other engineering disciplines, biomedical engineers use their knowledge of science and math, but they combine this with their background in medicine. Some of the areas they may specialize in include bioinstrumentation, biomaterials, biomechanics, genetic engineering and medical imaging.

Employment Facts:

There were 16,000 biomedical engineers employed in 2010.

Educational Requirements:

To work as a biomedical engineer one needs, at the minimum, a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering from a program that is accredited byABET. Coursework combines engineering and biological sciences.

^{Why Do You Need to Know About Educational Requirements?}

Other Requirements:

Will you make a good biomedical engineer? This occupation calls for good problem solving, listening, analytical, math and communication skills. If you have these skills, this might be the right career for you.

Advancement Opportunities:

Biomedical engineers who want to move up the ladder to become the leaders of research teams must earn a master's or doctoral degree.

^{Why Do You Need to Know About Advancement?}

Job Outlook:

The job outlook for biomedical engineers is excellent. This occupation is projected to experience growth, through 2020, that is much faster that the average for other occupations. Biomedical engineering is among the fastest growing occupations among those that require abachelor's degree (The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

^{Why Do You Need to Know About Job Outlook?}

Earnings:

Biomedical engineers earned a median annual salary of $84,670 in 2011 (U.S.).

Use the Salary Wizard at Salary.com to find out how much a biomedical engineer currently earns in your city.

A Day in a Biomedical Engineer's Life:

On a typical day a biomedical engineer's tasks might include:

• designing artificial organs and other devices that will be used to replace body parts
• testing biomedical equipment to determine whether it is safe, efficient and effective
• installing biomedical equipment and then adjusting, maintaining or repairing it
• collaborating with others in the medical field including medical scientists, life scientists andchemists

Sources:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition, Engineers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/biomedical-engineers.htm (visited June 28, 2012).
Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, O*NET Online, Biomedical Engineer, on the Internet at http://www.onetonline.org/link/details/17-2031.00 (visited June 28, 2012).

How To Remove a Ring Stuck on a Finger

How To Remove a Ring Stuck on a Finger 

By Rod Brouhard, About.com Guide Updated April 06, 2010

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

There are no sure-fire ways to remove rings stuck on fingers. This method is easy and does not require medical training or special equipment. Methods involving wrapping the finger or using specialized equipment should be attempted only by trained medical personnel.

In cases of injured fingers, seek medical help immediately. The binding of a ring around the finger may act as a tourniquet and cause permanent damage to the finger if not removed promptly.

If there is no injury, a ring may be removed at home. Do not attempt removal if the finger is blue or purple, or if there is no feeling in the finger.

Difficulty: Hard

Time Required: Up to an hour

Here's How:

Biomedical Engineers

Biomedical Engineers
by Kathy Quan, R.N., B.S.N., P.H.N

Biomedical engineers take ideas and concepts from physicians, scientists, and therapists and convert them into equipment, instruments, devices, treatments, and techniques to help diagnose and treat patients, to solve problems, and to improve quality of life.

Duties, Activities, and Scope of Practice

There are four general categories of biomedical engineers: generalists, rehabilitative, clinical, and medical.

The generalists apply general principles of engineering to normal and abnormal (diseased or debilitated) anatomy and physiology. They are usually involved in improving and removing pollutants from the biological environment and protecting plants and animals from environmental factors.

Rehabilitative bioengineers are involved in developing devices for people with disabilities. These include communication devices, orthopedic devices, and electrical stimulation of nerves and paralyzed muscles.

Clinical bioengineers use technology and concepts to improve clinical systems and health care delivery processes. They maintain and test medical instruments and equipment and train staff in their safe and appropriate use.

Medical bioengineers utilize engineering concepts to develop new instruments and diagnostic devices and technologies, to develop new biomaterials, and to invent new techniques, computer systems, services, and other equipment. They also develop new artificial joints, prosthetics, and organs.

Education and Training

A bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering is required for entry-level positions in this field. Graduate degrees are preferred, especially doctoral degrees.

The curriculum includes mathematics, including algebra, trigonometry, and calculus. Biomedical engineering courses such as systems and design, biomedical computers, bioinstrumentation, biomechanics, biomaterials, biothermodynamics, and engineering biophysics are required.

Licensure/Certification

A license as a P.E. (professional engineer) is encouraged and in some instances required. Certification is available for clinical bioengineers from the International Certification Commission for Clinical Engineering and Biomedical Technology. This requires a degree, three years of hospital-based employment in a specialty area, and passing a written examination.

Work Settings and Salaries

There are a wide variety of work settings for biomedical engineers. Most are in large cities. Hospitals, laboratories, research facilities, undersea and space agencies, NASA, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), and private companies that produce medical devices are the major employers of biomedical engineers.

The broad areas of employment, education, and responsibilities represent the vast differences in salaries as well. In general, salaries range from approximately $45,000 to over $100,000.

Career Potential and Additional Information

The National Institutes of Health has recognized that the demand for biomedical engineers far exceeds the number of qualified engineers available. They also recognize the vital contribution to the health care industry that these professionals make. It has formed the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) to promote research and encourage the recruitment of high school students into bioengineering programs.

You can find out more about biomedical engineering opportunities from the Biomedical Engineering Society. Their Web site is www.bmes.org. Their address is 8401 Corporate Drive, Suite 140, Landover, MD 20785.

Sumber : http://www.netplaces.com/health-care-careers/affiliated-team-members/biomedical-engineers.htm

Biomedical Engineer Careers

Should You Become A Biomedical Engineer?

By Andrea Santiago, About.com Guide

Do you love biology, medicine, and engineering? If you are looking for a way to combine math and science of engineering with biology and medicine, a career as a biomedical engineer may be a great career choice for you.

Job Outlook for Biomedical Engineers:
It is worth mentioning up front that the field of biomedical engineering is projected to grow by over 70% in the ten year period ending in 2018! (According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) This is one of many reasons why this could be a great field to explore. However, the field of biomedical engineering is not an especially large field; there are only about 16,000 professionals employed as biomedical engineers. Therefore, that high growth percentage will only result in about 11,000 additional jobs, over that ten year period.

Education Requirements for Biomedical Engineers:
Biomedical engineers have at least a bachelor's degree in engineering from a university or four-year college. Ideally the degree would be in biomedical engineering, but some biomedical engineers studied mechanical, electrical, or some other related type of engineering. A master's degree is often preferred for many senior-level roles, but there are jobs available to college graduates after completing the bachelor's degree.

What Do Biomedical Engineers Do?
Biomedical engineers can serve in a variety of roles, most of which involve the invention and creation of medical devices such as implants, prostheses (artificial limbs), and any hardware that can be used to help improve patients' health and quality of life. Also, capital equipment such as imaging or other diagnostics may be developed by biomedical engineers. There are thousands of different types of medical devices, too many different types to list here!

The specific role of a biomedical engineer could entail designing, building, researching, testing, or marketing medical devices. According to the BLS, some of the subspecialties for biomedical engineering include biomaterials, biomechanics, medical imaging, rehabilitation engineering, and orthopedic engineering.

Average Pay for Biomedical Engineers
The median income for biomedical engineers is $77,400, according to the most recent figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (as of 2010). Those in the top 10% earn just over $121,000.

Sumber : http://healthcareers.about.com/od/medicalindustryjobs/a/biomedicalengineer.htm

Success Begins with How We Think: Understanding Failure

Success Begins with How We Think: Understanding Failure

Monthly Archives: August 2012 /Written by: Troy

An article with a title like ‘Success Begins How with We Think‘ certainly sounds run of the mill and a bit patronizing, doesn’t it? Perhaps one of those books come to mind – you know, the kind with guy (or lady) with amazing hair, beaming a huge smile from the book’s shiny cover and promising to teach you all the secrets that will unlock your inner potential and turn you into a millionaire or an incredible speaker or the CEO of a billion dollar company? Most of us, if we have been around the world of business for a few years, have seen books of this kind, along with the inevitable seminars or audio podcast or CD or, in the old days, cassette tape series. Each of these people are famed for talking about success and it is by talking about success that they obtained success – a bit ironic, isn’t it?

Well, guess what? We don’t want to talk about success today. We want to talk about failure. That’s right, trying hard and losing anyway. Often, that is where the gold is and by understanding failure we can then begin to look at success in a more meaningful way. What I want to do now is give you some straight talk about failing and maybe do more than just make you feel better for a little while. Maybe I can give you some information that I discovered which will make you think better – by better, in this case, I mean more clearly and with a greater focus on reality. First, let’s take a look ‘personal myths‘, those stories about ‘successful people‘ that get so widely touted in the media.

Ignore Your Idols – You Don’t Know Their Real Story Anyway

A lot of times, when we fail it’s actually us feeling like failures because we compare ourselves to rich and famous folks that we don’t even know. Getting them to sign an autograph for you is not the same as knowing them for who they are nor is it the same as observing them along their path to success. Perhaps you envy Bill Gates, one of the world’s wealthiest men. He certainly seems like a self-made man, doesn’t he? After all, he dropped out of Harvard and despite looking like an extra from Revenge of the Nerds, he managed to create with Paul Allen an incredible company called Microsoft. He must have been made of steel and incredibly disciplined or maybe supergenius to achieve such wealth from mere software, right?

BZZT! Before we get carried away with the story of Gates as some prodigal son who made good despite being misunderstood let’s look at some facts from dear old Wikipedia. We begin with Bill’s family roots:

"His father was a prominent lawyer, and his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way. Gates’s maternal grandfather was J. W. Maxwell, a national bank president. "

So clearly, money was no object for the boy and that alone is a powerful asset any entrepreneur could benefit from, not to mention the social prestige his family endowed him with. Most of us don’t come from a family of this standing. There is also this about Gates as a student:

" Gates took an interest in programming the GE system in BASIC, and was excused from math classes to pursue his interest. He wrote his first computer program on this machine: an implementation of tic-tac-toe that allowed users to play games against the computer"

So early on, Gates gets excused from other classes to go work on the computers and then he makes games. Plenty of us would love to have had this kind of experience, but then again we probably did not attend one of Seattle’s ‘exclusive preparatory schools‘. Nor did we have a mother who lobbied to get those computers into our school at a time (this was 1968) when they would have been nothing short of remarkable, cutting edge technology that surely cost a fortune.

Gates loved the computers so much that he, Paul Allen and some students got banned for misusing them:

"One of these systems was a PDP-10 belonging to Computer Center Corporation (CCC), which banned four Lakeside students—Gates, Paul Allen, Ric Weiland, and Kent Evans—for the summer after it caught them exploiting bugs in the operating system to obtain free computer time."

We won’t even get into the rest of this story, some rather blatant dishonesty during his early adulthood, the United States v. Microsoft antitrust fiasco that took place on live TV back in the late 90′s. Let’s suffice it to say that the real story of Bill Gates is of a kid born into a prominent, wealthy family who was allowed to focus nearly all of his time exclusively on working with computers.

Is it then that big of a deal that he becomes one of the wealthiest people alive right in the midst of the rise of personal computers and the Internet? Not such a big deal, is it? And to think, all of this info is available publicly right on Wikipedia with sources cited, to boot.

Now, the point here is not to disparage Gates, but to compare yourself as you really are. Were you born into that type of family with those resources available to you as a child? Did you focus all of your time pursuing something until you quite naturally became a genius at it? Probably not, so comparing your own success to Gates’ might not be a good idea.

One more example, this time from retail, is good old Sam Walton, another of the world’s most wealthy men, now deceased. Walton, as you probably know, brought the world Walmart and Sam’s Club. Walton is touted as another self-made American billionaire who struggled out of poverty in Oklahoma to found an empire from Bentonville, Arkansas. While it appears relatively true that Walton’s family was not that well off, he did begin practicing his business skills as a child by selling milk from the family farm. He had a paper route and despite such a low income he did manage to get into the University of Missouri, which he graduated from in 1940 with a Bachelors of Economics. There he joined a prominent fraternity as well as a ‘secret society’ – social networking was done differently back in the day. Hardly sounds like the down-home humble kind of bumbly old guy he was often portrayed as, right? Not at all.

Let’s go ahead and fast forward with a brief bit from Wikipedia, again:

"Walton joined JC Penney as a management trainee in Des Moines, Iowa three days after graduating from college. This position paid him $75 a month. He resigned in 1942 in anticipation of being inducted into the military for service in World War II. In the meantime, he worked at a DuPont munitions plant near Tulsa, Oklahoma. Soon afterwards, Walton joined the military in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps, supervising security at aircraft plants and prisoner of war camps. In this position he served at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, Utah. He eventually reached the rank of captain."

Are you still with us, here? Walton is now age 26 and he’s got his Bachelors of Economics, he’s made connections in a fraternity, he’s been trained as a retail store manager, he’s served as military intelligence, worked at prisoner of war camps and achieved a respectable rank in the US Army. That ‘gee whiz’ rags-to-riches story is starting to pale a bit, no? Well, it does get better. It turns out that Walton’s got a savings fo $5,000 to open his first store, a Ben Franklin variety store. As Wikipedia puts it:

"In 1945, after leaving the military, Walton took over management of his first variety store at the age of 26. With the help of a $20,000 loan from his father-in-law, plus $5,000 he had saved from his time in the Army, Walton purchased a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas."

So Walton’s got retail experience as well as experience managing people plus a degree in economics and maybe a little bit of training that came in handy while serving in military intelligence. Not too shabby. That $5,000 hardly sounds impressive, but according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ calculator that money, after you factor in inflation, is the equivalent of $63,640 today. And that measly $20,000 loan from his bride’s father? It’s worth a whopping $254,560 in today’s dollars. Yes, over a quarter of a million dollars given to Walton as a loan.

The point of explaining these two men’s stories is to shed light that penetrates beyond the ‘popular myth’ perpetuated by those with an interest in Walton looking impressive. That could be business partners or those who want to sell a book about him. If I can offer a little advice given to me when I was studying Journalism: always think about whose best interest is served by any story you hear. In other words, follow the money or see who stands to gain. For our purposes, consider how these men appearing to be brilliant stars who rose from being a nerdy college dropout or a poor country boy down South could serve to make them into legends. While what they’ve done is certainly admirable, if you want to compare yourself with them always remember: you don’t and can’t know their whole life story. Even what we show here is only fraction of the truth of their whole life story. Focus on writing your own life story instead.

What Exactly is Failure?

This is a good question and it is one that we too often answer with something simple such as, “Not achieving the goal.” Well, perhaps that what it boils down to, but that is no way to gain an understanding of failure so that we can combat it. Let’s turn again to Wikipedia for a fairly comprehensive definition of failure:

"The criteria for failure are heavily dependent on context of use, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. A situation considered to be a failure by one might be considered a success by another, particularly in cases of direct competition or a zero-sum game. Similarly, the degree of success or failure in a situation may be differently viewed by distinct observers or participants, such that a situation that one considers to be a failure, another might consider to be a success, a qualified success or a neutral situation."

In essence, “it all depends on how you look at it.” If failure is relative, then that means we can choose to use it either as a whip to beat ourselves with or we can use life’s lemons to make lemonade. Perhaps you aren’t currently the next Bill Gates or Sam Walton, but is it that simple or is the fact that you’ve not put in as many years or as much effort into achieving the goal? Being honest with yourself here becomes vitally important and the value of focusing on your goal, accepting your failures as learning experiences and adapting to the times becomes crucial.

Failure can be whatever we want it to be and the power of choice comes into play now: do you choose to fail or do you choose to allow yourself the freedom to make mistakes you can learn from?

Can You Fail Even When You Aren’t Doing Anything Wrong?

This is where things get interesting. Anyone interested in science understands that much of what science has given us came from experiments gone awry. As the former CEO of International Business Machines (IBM), Thomas J. Watson, tells us:

"If you want to succeed, double your failure rate."

Sometimes, a small adjustment in your strategy is needed in order to achieve successful results. Other times, you have to make a drastic change to your ways. So let’s put this in terms that those of us struggling to achieve success online can really understand: you might even end up failing for years at achieving traffic even when your content is brilliant. Yes, we are speaking of Jon Morrow. If Morrow had not kept going, he certainly would not be living it up in a oceanside home in tropical Mexico. He came very close to throwing in the title. So did Thomas Edison, by the way, who tells us:

"Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Perhaps right now your business is tanking in a big way. Or maybe it is a lackluster ‘success’ that is paying a few bills, but not anywhere close to what you dream it could be. These situations could be caused by ‘doing something wrong‘ but that is not always the case. In fact, a recent article by James Dyson (founder of Dyson, a British vacuum cleaner manufacturer) in Today Online stated:

"We make progress by making mistakes. While inventing the bagless vacuum cleaner, I failed 5,126 times. But prototype 5,127 was a success."

Dyson’s company spends more than $1.5 million per year on Research & Development. That gives you an idea of just how much Dyson and company are willing to pour into ‘failures’. Many of the world’s top corporations routinely pour millions upon millions of dollars into R&D of all kinds. Are you investing in your own business even when it seems as if you are failing? Sometimes you have to invest in your own business or even get an education from those who know about succeeding in business online in order to push forward and reach the goals you have set for your business and yourself. You might not being doing anything wrong, you might simply not have done it enough.

Hang in There & Keep on Failing

Let’s start calling failure what it really is:

FAILURE is a lack of perseverance combined with a lack of skill.

To gain skill, you must stay persistent. You must keep educating yourself, you must keep trying and, by trying, you will fail plenty of times, but eventually persistence and skill will win out.

We’d love to hear your own stories of failures both big and small. Do you have any you would like to share? If so, leave us a comment below and we’ll be glad to get back to you as soon as we can. Also, if you have any questions be sure to ask because sometimes we can help solve each others problems just by confronting failure and asking for a little help. That’s what we’re here for.

Sumber : http://topmarketingstrategies.com/success-begins-with-how-we-think-understanding-failure