Seth Streeter
Resume of Failures
1980 As a child I submitted futuristic car designs to auto manufacturers and came up with inventions.
Learning: Thinking big gets rewarded. If I don’t execute on a good idea, someone else will.
1990 Summer job on cruise ship taken away 2 weeks prior
Learning: Trust that things happen for a reason.
1993 College Planning Associates (CPAs) buildout failed
Learning: Importance of clear branding and working with target customers.
1994 Employee workshop to top Gillette employees in English rejected, offered Spanish
Learning: Blue Ocean strategy of developing niche markets. Always show up.
1998 Pitch to John Hancock corporate for a national wealth management platform denied
Learning: Large organizations pivot slowly. Small and nimble is an advantage.
2000 Public seminars in new market proved marginally successful. Partnered w/ CPA firm.
Learning: Power and validation of partnerships
2006 Divorced from wife. Met in college, together 14 years. Led me to dive into my own personal development.
Learning: My personal awareness and wellness will drive my relationship health. Made me much closer to my children.
2010 Had panic attack while giving a public presentation to a potential national partner.
Learning: Humility (helped us get national partnership) and goal setting to overcome helped me get my TEDx speaking opportunity.
Biggest Mistakes Made
- Thought vulnerability was a weakness, not a strength in business and in life.
- Hired too quickly and fired too slowly.
- Focused on too many shiny objects (i.e. bookkeeping company) versus hedgehog approach.
Takeaway Thoughts
- Trust the red thread. Your tribe will follow it.
- Never forget the power of positivity. Small thoughtful gestures count. Be of service.
- Operate from a place of wonder – everyone can be your teacher. Opportunities are everywhere!
~“The better a man is, the more mistakes he will make, for the more new things he will try.” ~Peter Drucker
“Life’s real failure is when you do not realize how close you were to success when you gave up.” ~Anonymous
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” ~Thomas A. Edison
“Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure… it just means you haven’t succeeded yet.” ~Robert Schuller
“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is a step forward.” ~Thomas A. Edison
“The only time you mustn’t fail is the last time you try.” ~Charles F. Kettering
“I failed my way to success.” ~Thomas Edison
“My reputation grows with every failure.” ~George Bernard Shaw
“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” ~Abraham Lincoln
“There are two kinds of people in this world: those who want to get things done, and those who don’t want to make mistakes.” ~John Maxwell
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ~Thomas Edison
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” ~Elbert Hubbard
“The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.” ~Napoleon Hill
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” ~Henry Ford
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” ~Albert Einstein
“You can’t have any successes unless you can accept failure.” ~George Cukor
“In order to succeed you must fail, so that you know what not to do the next time.” ~Anthony D’Angelo
“You always pass failure on your way to success.” ~Mickey Rooney
“Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.” ~John Dewey
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” ~Michael Jordan
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” ~Winston Churchill
“The only real failure in life is one not learned from.” ~Anthony J. D’Angelo