Now I know that’s only a tiny amount of money to lose on a business venture, but still it’s difficult to describe how awful those first two days were. Here I was, giving my best shot at Internet marketing, and I was crashing and burning. I came within a hair’s breadth of pulling plug and walking away from whole thing.

But I hung in there, and third day I cut a profit. From there, I refined my ad campaigns, gradually increasing my profit margins, day after day after day.

See, failure isn’t all bad. I learned valuable things those first two days. I learned what I was doing wrong, and I refined and tried again.

The truth is failure is first stage of success. The Wright brothers didn’t soar with eagles first time they tried to fly. Edison blew up hundreds of light-bulbs before he ‘cracked code’. Every great achievement of humankind was initially marked with failure before it met success.

So next time you hear a nagging little voice asking, “What if I fail?” take time to answer question. If I fail, I learn. If I learn, I can refine. If I can refine, I will succeed.

And always remember this: The successful people are people who got up one more time than they fell down.

Now, imagine that you are in your mid-40s, single, an English professor; you live in your own home in suburbs and drive a late model 2-door sedan. You like lattes, vegie burgers, and avant-garde. While waiting in line person next to you starts up a conversation. This person is probably early 20s, sports a facial tattoo, is a little disheveled, rents an apartment, and uses bus system to get around. What are chances that you would respond to this person with interest? Could you become friends? Do you suppose that knowing this person would be of any benefit to you?

As you move through your life, it may be good to ponder these things occasionally. It feels great to socialize with your friends and share all of things that you have in common. But mostly, you're on familiar ground and stay within your comfort zone. Just remember that there is a wealth of information and knowledge waiting for you, also, in those chance encounters with people whom you would ordinarily never get to know, because they are too different from you.