In the latest book by Jim Collins, How the Mighty Fall, Collins carefully outlines how great, thriving organizations can quickly and dramatically fall from prominence.

While he spends a lot of time outlining what he calls the “Five Stages of Decline”, I was particularly motivated by his thoughts on what those who fall, and then recover, have in common.

I certainly want to understand how to avoid a fall in the first place. (Or should I say, avoid any more “falls” than I’ve already experienced!) But since it’s a given that stumbling and falling down is a necessary and inevitable experience of life…I’m motivated by examples of those who get back up and recover.

Here are some excerpts from How the Mighty Fall that I found of particular interest:

Xerox. HP. Nucor. IBM. Merck. Texas Instruments. Pitney Bowes. Nordstrom. Disney. Boeing. What do these companies have in common? Each took at least one tremendous fall at some point in its history and recovered…in every case, leaders emerged who broke the trajectory of decline and simply refused to give up on the idea of not only survival but ultimate triumph, despite the most extreme odds.

The signature of the truly great vs. the merely successful is not the absence of difficulty. It’s the ability to come back from setbacks, even cataclysmic catastrophes, strongter than before. Great nations can decline and recover. Great companies can fall and recover. Great social institutions can fall and recover. And great individuals can fall and recover. As long as you never get entirely knocked out of the game, there remains hope.

The path out of darkness begins with those exasperatingly persistent individuals who are constitutionally incapable of capitulation. It’s one thing to suffer a staggering defeat–as will likely happen to every enduring business and social enterprise and (individual) at some point in its history–and entirely another to give up on the values and aspirations that make the protracted struggle worthwhile. Failure is not so much a physical state as a state of mind; success is falling down–and getting up one more time–without end.

Mr. Collins couldn’t have put it any better. So I have nothing to add.

It’s funny how we forget about our brain sometimes.

We try and take care of our bodies with exercise but seem to altogether overlook the fact that our brain needs exercise too.

As America ages, we’re finally seeing an increase in programs and even “head health” facilities that focus on increasing mental capacity and keeping our minds sharp.

Skeptical? Consider this, Do you ever want to say something but just can’t find the word? (I thought so.)

We all have some mental weaknesses. I exhibit mine at least 10 times a day!

Brain fitness is real. And the more fit you can keep your noodle, the more successful you will be in life, business, and anything else.

There are many new tools popping up to help increase your brain power. An example of this is “Brain Age” and “Brain Training” by Nintendo. Additionally, over the next several years you will see “brain gyms” popping up throughout the country.

But you really don’t need to buy a product or hit the brain gym to sharpen your skills.

Here are some brain exercises recommended by Dr. Lorne Label of the Brain Longevity Center:

• Use your left hand, if you are right handed, for tasks such as placing a stamp on an envelope, writing, or combing your hair.
• Name the letters of the alphabet but mix it up—by skipping every other letter (a, c, e, g); skipping every third letter (a, d, g) or, perhaps, starting from the end of the alphabet and skipping a letter (z, x, v)
• Sweep your eyes across a room. Then spend the next few minutes recalling what you saw, where things were placed, the colors, etc.
• Subtract 3 from 100; then continue to subtract 3s from each remaining number (100-3=97-3=94-3=91)
• Pick a category, like food or animals. Then name an item in the category. Think of a second one that begins with the last letter of the previous item. (For example, hot dog, grape, egg.)

According to a five year study by the Journal of the American Medical Association, more than 2,000 adults showed that simple mental exercises improved cognitive skills.

Why am I delving into this today? It’s simple. Smart people experience more success than the dummies out there!

Pay attention to your brainpower and work on simple ways to stay smart and get mentally fit.

I think I’ll try a crossword puzzle today!

In 1998, I listened to James Paramore give a speech entitled, “Life Will Be a Challenge.” In that talk, he re-told a true account about a school teacher who was following up on a summertime assignment by asking her students what important lessons they were taught about self-reliance during their summer vacation.

After several accounts of “lessons learned” were shared, she asked Johnny what lesson he had learned. Johnny replied. “Well, my dad taught me how to swim.” “Fantastic, Johnny. That’s a great thing to learn.” “Yeah,” Then he continued, “He took me out in the middle of a lake, and he just threw me overboard, and told me ta swim back to shore.” “WOW!,” the teacher said. “That took a lot of courage.” “Yes it did,” Johnny said, “but it wasn’t all that bad once I got myself out of that darn gunnysack!”

Well, I got a chuckle out of that little story—that was about 11 years ago and it struck me pretty powerfully at the time, because I’ve actually felt like that before—sort of stuck in that gunnysack, trying to swim to shore—especially back then when I was just venturing out as an entrepreneur.

I’ve felt like that when I was trying to launch my very first company in 1992. I felt like that when I was trying to figure out how to take a company to the next level after Venture Capitalists invested millions in my company. I’ve felt like that while trying to figure out the latest marketing method, copywriting technique, or blogging strategy. I’ve felt like that at many different stages while trying to sort through the avalanche of business information that’s out there…

Maybe you’ve struggled in a similar way? Maybe you’ve struggled to decide on a business concept. Maybe you’ve struggled with Internet Marketing, raising capital, finding a partner, purchasing a business, managing cash, or changing your business model. Perhaps, you’ve struggled to really learn how to become as successful in your business as some of those great entrepreneurs that we’ve all watched and admired from a distance.

You know, those who are the true Masters of Business have figured out what really works and then went out and did it. They didn’t focus on the fact that they were out the middle of the lake, stuck in a gunnysack. They focused on how to get out and get moving.

I want to know what you are doing right now, to wrestle your way “out of that gunnysack”?

Are you up to the challenge of business?

Will you sink or swim?

There are two central ingredients to success: Risk and Persistence. I refer to them as “The Catalyst of Success.”

There are thousands and thousands of great entrepreneurial ideas out there. Millions of people have big financial hopes and dreams. There are a lot of people who can talk about their concept or idea with great conviction and flair—or about how they could improve an entire industry with their unique insight and experience.

But for all of the millions of ideas, concepts and plans only a very, very small number of them ever come to fruition.

I’d like to point out two of the most overlooked principles of making any business endeavor a success—in fact these principles apply to any worthwhile endeavor that we might choose to pursue.

The first is RISK and the second is PERSISTENCE. These two principles are absolutely necessary ingredients for success.

When I was a teenager I shaped and glassed my own surfboards. I became very familiar with the process of solidifying fiberglass using a mixture of resin and catalyst. In order to create a bucket full of solution that would cover the entire surfboard, I would add three or four cups of marine resin and just about a tablespoon of catalyst—that tablespoon made all the difference—it was the key ingredient that caused the entire mixture to eventually solidify into a hard fiberglass finish.

In my opinion, Risk and Persistence are like the catalyst that will complete the business plan, or any plan for that matter. It’s what takes a project through to the finish line.

The trouble though, is that many people are either paralyzed by the potential costs of taking risks and choose to avoid something potentially great altogether, OR after taking a risk; lack the patience and tenacity, aka: Persistence that’s required to see something to the finish line. In a sense, they throw in the towel prematurely.

I think you can start to recognize the importance of these two principles.

Do you have some insight and experience about how the principles of Risk and Persistence have affected your life? Or do you have a comment or point in regard to these principles from which the readers can benefit?

Leave a comment and I’ll follow up with a reply as soon as I can…

One of my favorite entrepreneurial thought leaders, Guy Kawasaki, provides yet another extremely insightful article.  In a recent guest posting for Sun Microsystems, he spells out his 5 lessons of becoming a successful entrepreneur. I’ve summarized some of it here:

1. “Focus on cash flow”: Guy explains how P&L profitability is important, but that’s not specifically what pays the bills.  Cash on hand is what’s key. With cash you literally pay your employees, vendors, and all other overhead. Cash is king.

2. “Make a little progress everyday”: Guy is suggesting the value of small steps…it’s no longer about major marketing campaigns.  Instead, his focus has turned more toward closing another sale, focusing on a better product and even ensuring a website is just a little more user friendly.  These baby steps are essentially what’ll bring the big picture to life.

3. “Try stuff”: Guy Kawasaki explains that luck happens only to those who try new things – not those who wait for things to happen.  Some of us sit back and pass up opportunities only to see someone else take it and run. You became an entrepreneur to become adventurous, so don’t forget to go out on a limb and experiment every once in a while.

4. “Ignore schmexperts”: Sometimes our gut is screaming so loud that we can’t hear anything else.  When it does, listen to it and not those so called experts.  They’ll always say “I told you so” whether you succeed or fail. Your gut instinct is usually more reliable!

5. “Never ask anyone to something that you wouldn’t do”: Don’t ask your client, employee, or vendor to do something that you wouldn’t be willing to do yourself.  This includes the small stuff—if you aren’t willing to do it yourself when it makes sense, you won’t have the respect of those you lead.  Sometimes we forget that we are dealing with people with busy and active lives… treat everyone as equally as possible.

I’ve given a summary, but go get it from the horse’s mouth!

Read Guy’s original post here: Lessons of Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur

Here are some related blog posts about this topic:

10 Myths of Entrepreneurship

What Makes a Successful Entrepreneur

Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs

Four Steps to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur

11 Killer Instincts of Entrepreneurship