Bob Bowman

Failure is part of the Method. Sometimes it comes in waves; sometimes it catches you by surprise. But whenever it hits, understand that it is part of your pursuit. Take something from failure and use it to move your vision along.

Belief. I contend that this is one of the greatest gifts you can share with others: the belief that they can succeed.

It’s pretty simple: The more consistency you bring to your daily work, the more predictable your success will be, whether you’re chasing football titles, Olympic medals, or wins in your day-to-day life.

I have become a firm believer in the value of celebration as part of the Method. The act, whether big or small in scale, signals that something has been completed, and with completion we have a marker of our growth.

Henry David Thoreau has a quote that I often remind myself of at the start of a new day: ‘Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.’

Failure is part of the Method. Sometimes it comes in waves; sometimes it catches you by surprise. But whenever it hits, understand that it is part of your pursuit. Take something from failure and use it to move your vision along.

Use setbacks to motivate you. Reexamine your Game Plan, refocus your intermediate goals, and, ultimately, reengage yourself in your overall vision quest. When adversity strikes, you still must take another step, you must keep going, you must swim forward . . . even if your goggles are leaking water.

I live by the maxim that unless I take a chance—unless I push the risk meter—I’m going to stagnate, and that’s not good for me, the people who work for me, or those who swim for me.

Belief. I contend that this is one of the greatest gifts you can share with others: the belief that they can succeed.

It’s pretty simple: The more consistency you bring to your daily work, the more predictable your success will be, whether you’re chasing football titles, Olympic medals, or wins in your day-to-day life.

Suspending belief is necessary when setting a vision for yourself or for those you work with. You want to establish a ‘reach,’ and then figure out a way to reach it.