What American Idol Can Teach Us About Success

LAS VEGAS, NV – May 25, 2005—“American Idol’s contestants can teach us a lot about how to handle life’s challenges,” says Tom Justin, author of “How To Take No For An Answer And Still Succeed.” (http://tinyurl.com/9wjx9)

Justin, whose mantra from his book is, “If you haven’t been rejected recently, you’re not living close enough to your potential,” observed that American Idol can teach us all about dealing with the challenges of everyday life. “Our life plays out like that of the contestant’s. He says, “We practice and work in areas that are familiar, and then we’re thrown into unfamiliar territory.”

In American Idol, the rock and roller has to sing country one night. The crooner has to go rock and roll another night. But, says Justin, “The true test is how they handle rejection. If Simon Cowell insults a performance, as he’s expected to do 70% of the time, how the performer stands up to that does two things. First, the audience reacts to certain kinds of response. If the singer handles it with ease and a smile, he or she is more endearing. A militant response might get some cheers from the audience, but most people don’t care for it.”

Justin, who is now a corporate strategist and professional speaker, also has a background in concert production and personal management. “I’ve watched a lot of performers come up the ladder of success. The fighters who showed a pleasant but firm resolve, regardless of the NOs they received, were more likely to survive. Those who thrived were the ones who took the NOs, and built their foundations of success to go where they wanted to go.”

Justin says that what we can also learn from the Idol contestants is that the best talent isn’t always at the finish line. “Even though we can generally agree on who’s really good, the winner is never unanimous. We all have a chance to win in life. It may not be the ‘contest’ that we’re in at the moment, but it will be up to us how we want to continue on.”

He laughed when asked about Simon Cowell. “We all have more than one Simon Cowell come along in life. Overly critical, harsh and attacking, which hurts. We always need to ask ourselves how we will handle that. The criticism isn’t as bad as how we react to it.”

“All these kids are really the quintessential entrepreneurs. Just like anyone who’s self-employed. Talent aside, we have to strategize, to use the tools we have available, to ask for and seek out help wherever we can and to compensate those who choose to come along. The difference is, they have an international platform. They must learn how to use it.”

Tom Justin is president of Command Communications, Inc. of Las Vegas NV. He has a free special report on his website titled, “How To Use The Power of NO.” at http://www.tomjustin.com