The phrase “fail fast, succeed faster” is thrown around in the entrepreneurial, particularly by people embracing the lean concept of creating a business.

However, in my role of business coach and mentor, I have come to realise that few executives truly appreciate what it can mean for them. Today, I can across two examples, which clearly illustrate how each and everyone of us can benefit from this train of thought.

Case study number one – “the phone call”. It is amazing how frightening a simple phone call can be. For some people, especially when it comes to cold calling – calling somebody you do not know – this is simply no-go territory. They put it off.

Yet again, I was sitting with a new client, who told me that they had run out of leads. I have two standards responses in this scenario. I ask them if they have completed their list of calls to make for the day, before sitting down with me. Almost invariably the answer is no and nearly invariably the reason is connected to procrastination.

In addition, I encourage them to start looking through their contacts list on their mobile. Who can they call? The immediate response is ‘nobody’. Yet, once the task is completed, the client has had to swallow their words.

What reminded me of this was a posting today on Facebook by a former customer. He had picked out a two minute video by Steve Jobs. The king of Apple made a phone when he was twelve years old, that was to change his life. His message? If you never ask, you are unlikely to fail. There again, you are unlikely to succeed. “You have got to act”!

Case study number two is all about trying to see that which your eyes are hiding from you. For example, I met up with some scientists, who had started out by investigating a cream for the skin for the forehead. Uncertain what the results of their first trials had revealed to them, they consulted with an expert. Apparently, they had discovered the basics of a cure for a disease impacting on millions around the world. Time to write a business plan!

Very often, the core reason why people do not progress in their business venture is that they do not believe in themselves enough. Why? Well, each of us carries our own past.

As Jobs and others show, if we are just prepared to move a touch beyond our supposed comfort zone, we may not triumph immediately, but we are likely to get there eventually.