If you go out and ask a random person what his or her least favorite word is, chances are high that he or she is going to respond with something like “moist”, “phlegm”, “pus” or just plain “gross”. 

What about you? What is your least favorite word? 

I can almost guarantee that there’s one word we all dislike to hear said TO US, even if it doesn’t initially spring to mind or show up on a list of least-liked words. 

On top of that, it’s one we hear on a quite regular basis: “NO”. 

While we know it’s a vital part of making life choices, and we may enjoy saying it to others, nobody really likes to be told “no”, right? 

Of course, when faced with this negation, we have two options. We can either give in to defeat, or we can keep pushing.

Before we get too far into this section, allow me to clarify one thing. I think we can all agree that there is a difference between accepting defeat graciously and giving up in frustration. We should absolutely know our limits and stop when it is necessary, but we should never give up simply because something is difficult or daunting. 

The question does arise when we keep running into failure? To be honest, some of the best advice I’ve received on this subject came from an elementary school teacher of mine. She used to tell my class that an “F” didn’t stand for “failure”; it stood for “find another way”. 

I bet many of you never thought of it like that?  Maybe now?

Often, the most helpful solutions to our problems come when we view those troubles in a different light, from a different perspective, in a different context (sometimes literally!). 

And that concept of “finding another way” leads perfectly into the second possible response we can utilize when dealing with failure or “no”s.  Some people just never seem to give up! 

Sometimes the only answer is to keep pushing. If you’ve got a good idea, a good project, a good system, then you’ve got to keep going until the brilliance of it makes sense and is applicable in practical and serving ways.

We all know the stories of Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and Abraham Lincoln, who were all incredibly unsuccessful. However, they all had to persevere, often through countless errors, “failures”, trials, sometimes in the same work, sometimes “finding another way”; as such, we now know their names. 

There are countless examples of “rags to riches” stories, and often the only thing that sets apart these successful dreamers from their counterparts was the fact that they persevered.  And kept looking to find another, better way.

At Perka, we have had to work to overcome our fair share of disappointments, struggles, and long lists of “no”s; we still do…   and we seek to help countless clients to do the same. We don’t all have to go through the SAME trials…  we can learn from others.   As we have. And as we are more than willing to help others… in our collective pursuit for more “stress free living”!!!

We would love to do the same for you!  With you.

For more information on what we do and how we can help you, check out our website. And feel free to contact us if you have any questions whatsoever! Let us help you turn that frown upside down, FIND another way and maybe turn some of those “nos” into “yeses”!