My mentor required failure…

When I first met one of my mentors, George Weiss, he asked me a question that surprised me a bit.  George is a successful venture capitalist from New York and like a true NY business man he was blunt and got straight to the point.  He asked me if I had ever lost everything.  My answer was yes, but not because of business or financial mistakes… I had lost everything due to a car accident and the proceeding medical bills and inability to work for quite some time.  He quickly explained that he didn’t care “why” I lost everything, he just cared “that” I had lost everything.  Again I answered “yes,” to which he replied, “okay, then I will work with you.”   Bewildered I asked why that was the criteria he based his decision on (it seemed a bit backwards to me).  He explained that he only mentors/works with people who have lost everything at least once in their life because it not only humbled the person, but that if they were able to rebuild themselves and their lives after losing everything it meant they had the determination and resilience that he was looking for. 

So please don’t ever hesitate to do something because you might fail… the experience of failure and loss may open doors you never expected.