Here’s what I do from 6:30 to 7:30, I’m in prime time – not for the whole hour, but for 47 minutes. When that beeper goes off, I go downstairs and either do some sit-ups, pushups or grab a glass of water or a cup of coffee.

During that time, I have a digital recorder with me. It’s one I got from Radio Shack, for about sixty bucks. You deserve to give this to yourself, so spend sixty bucks. Don’t buy one that has two hours on it, or even sixty minutes. Buy one that only gives you fifteen minutes or at the most thirty minutes. I’ll explain why in a moment.

Record three, four or maybe five thoughts that come into your head during the non-prime-time hours. This is not only during your break, but during any non-prime-time hours. I keep that recorder next to me because then I can record my big ideas the moment they pop into my head. And once they’re recorded, you don’t have to think about them anymore. You can purge them from your mind, freeing your brain to come up with more.

Once you’ve digitally recorded five or six ideas, then I want you to write them down in an idea file – whether that is a notebook or a Word document. This is why I don’t want you to have two hours worth of recording time – if you have two hours worth of ideas on your recorder, you’re never going to transcribe them.

When you type them or write them, it’s different activity – a different modality of learning. So, now you have the tactile, the kinesthetic and the auditory. Heck, if there were scratch and sniff, I would do that to. Now, the idea really sticks.

Everyone of us has been in the feeling of defeat due to something not turning out the way we’d planned, whether it’s personal or professional. Wikipedia has an interesting way of defining “disappointment.” If you take a moment to look the word up, here’s what you’ll find: “The feeling of dissatisfaction that follows a failure of expectations to manifest. It differs from regret in that the individual feeling regret focuses primarily on personal choices contributing to a poor outcome, while the individual feeling disappointment focuses on the outcome.”

Read this real life Case Study of the string of disappointments this famous American endured during the first 50 years of his life…

• At the age of 7, his family was forced out of their home, so he worked to help support his parents.
• At the age of 9 his mother died.
• At the age of 21 he failed in business.
• At the age of 22 he ran for the legislature, lost his job, and was turned down for law school.
• At the age of 23 he started another business on borrowed money, by age 24 was bankrupt.
• At the age of 25 he was engaged to be married and his fiancé died.
• At the age of 26 he had a nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
• At the age of 28 he was defeated as speaker of the state legislature.
• At the age of 33 he ran for congress and lost.
• At the age of 38 he ran for congress again and lost.
• At the age of 44 he ran for the US Senate and lost.
• At the age of 46 he tried for his parties Vice President nomination. He received less than 100 votes and lost.
• At the age of 48 he ran for the US Senate again, and lost.
• At the age of 50, he was elected as the 16th President of the United States!

Of course I’m talking about Abraham Lincoln. And because of his vigilance and resolve to overcome the major disappointments in his personal and professional life, he helped reshape and even dramatically change the deeply rooted prejudices that once plagued the people of his country. Lets face it, when it comes to disappointment we can either allow it to be a weight or we can give it wings.

If your choice is to fly…

Then Take Action Now: Consciously think back to ONE big disappointment you recently experienced in your entrepreneurial life and then ask yourself these 3 questions:

1. What really happened?
2. What should have happened?
3. What breakthrough can make it right?

By consistently and repeatedly asking these 3 questions, I’ve planted the seeds to the biggest marketing breakthroughs in which I’ve collaborated. Looking back on my own marketing accomplishments, one of the things I’m certain of is that my disappointments inspire me to storm the gates that others gladly sneak past. When you learn how to handle disappointments – miscommunications, violated expectations or thwarted intentions – as welcomed guests into your business life, you’ll have the mindset of cheerful expectancy of having a breakthrough not long after.

How do you overcome failures or disappointment? Leave your answer in the comments section below. 

It was Steve Jobs who said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” What do you think it takes to be a leader? Before answering this question, see what a few other people had to say when asked the question:

So what do you think? What is the single most important skill that the leaders of the future will need? Leave a comment for me below. I’d love to start a discussion on this topic.