Thomas Edison's sentiment that he "...didn't fail, [but] ...discovered 10,000 ways that didn't work." is at the heart of an abundance mentality. Very often human nature propels us more in the direction of a poverty mentality and sense of lack than toward a sense of plenty. A conscious shift in this perspective can turn every obstacle into an opportunity, every disappointment into the seed of success and a sense of despair into the germ of hope.

Some years ago a friend of mine tanked the family business. This wasn't just any family business, but a 200 year old legacy that was the centerpiece of a Mayflower family fortune; just the kind of thing to send most of us downstairs to drink the wine cellar.

Rather than fold he rose up, using the lessons he had learned in architecting his failure to then architect a newfound success. Today he is an educator who chairs the Small Business Institute at a small New England university, and consults to businesses all over the country on how they can be successful.  He now works with people like Tony Robbins and Martha Stewart, as well as the little Mom & Pops and mid-sized firms, to help them both help themselves and help others to do the same.