The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will land.

A lot of humans are like this. They are afraid to take a risk. Not me. I understood at an early age that in order to triple your success ratio, you might have to triple your failure rate.

Thomas J. Watson, the founder and first president of IBM said: "Failure is a teacher -- a harsh one, perhaps, but the best ... That's what I have to do when an idea backfires or a sales program fails. You've got to put failure to work for you ... you can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because that's where you will find success. On the far side of failure."

Failure can be one more step on your road to success -- you just have to turn it around in a positive direction. Failure can push you harder to succeed. Failure can strengthen your determination to overcome obstacles. Failure can make you braver in the face of opposition. Failure can help you learn what you need to do in order to succeed. Failure can teach you what your limitations are -- and your strengths. Failure can encourage you to change your strategy.

"Failure is not an option" became a popular catchphrase after the release of the movie "Apollo 13." Failure happens, but when you're responsible for the people working for you, you have to do everything you can to guard against it. As a leader, devote yourself to avoiding these crucial failures in leadership.

-- Disconnecting from people. Don't get so caught up in strategy and planning that you forget to talk to the people who work for you. Most of the time, they know more than you about how things work at the ground level, and their insights can be invaluable.

-- Doing too much. Delegate appropriately so you don't get overwhelmed and lose sight of the big picture. When you hire, look for people who can perform aspects of your job as well as or better than you can. Your role is complicated enough without adding tasks that your team should be able to handle.

-- Avoiding risk. Play it safe, and your organization will never grow. That doesn't mean being foolhardy with your organization's assets. Seek opportunities everywhere, and be willing to commit resources wherever you've got a reasonable chance of success.

-- Exhaustion. Take care of yourself, physically and mentally. Eat well, exercise and take time off so you can stay fresh as you confront the day's challenges. Pushing yourself to the brink will only increase everyone's anxiety.

-- Falling in love with authority. You're the boss, not a monarch ruling by birthright. Don't rely on your title, or the volume of your voice, to get employees to do what you want. Base your decisions on your experience and judgment, and be willing to listen to other points of view instead of assuming that only you know what's right.

BrightlyStreet.com has a wonderful illustration of bouncing back after failing: "When J.K. Rowling, author of the phenomenally successful 'Harry Potter' series, had been out of college for seven years, she found herself at a dark juncture in her life. At that time, she says, she had failed in life on an epic scale: 'An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded. I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless.'

"In short, Rowling says she was the biggest failure she knew. And while she says there is nothing ennobling about being poor, she believes she reaped benefits from her failures. Failure, she says, stripped away all the inessential aspects of her life. She stopped pretending to be anything other than herself, and it was then that she began to earnestly pursue the only work that mattered to her. It was not, she says, the fairy-tale transformation to success so often written about her in the media."

It never is, by the way. "Overnight sensations" are rare indeed -- most of us have to plug away, pay our dues and have a few failures before we can begin to imagine real success.

Mackay's Moral: Failure isn't final unless you say it is.

It is New Year's Eve and Charlie Brown says to Lucy: "Next year I am going to be a changed person."

"That's a laugh," says Lucy sarcastically.

"I mean it," says Charlie, "I'm going to be strong and firm."

"Forget it," says Lucy. "You'll always be wishy-washy."

Charlie Brown offers a compromise: "I'll be wishy one day and washy the next!"

Like Charlie Brown, most of us set New Year's resolutions that are a little vague -- lose some weight, spend more time with family and friends, quit smoking, quit drinking, enjoy life more, get out of debt, help others, get organized and on and on.

Just think, if everyone kept their New Year's resolutions, the world would be a lot different: We'd have healthier people that would show up for work on time, smoke and drink less, and be more organized.

Why don't resolutions work? There are lots of reasons. Resolutions need to be specific, attainable and personal. They need to come from your heart.

And here's a tip -- the fewer resolutions you have, the better. Too many changes at once, no matter how well-intentioned, become burdensome and confusing. Then it's too easy to chuck it all and slip back into old habits.

What often happens is that people set a goal or resolution and then they falter and just want to give up. That's understandable. Don't cave in and quit altogether. Just start up again. Give yourself a new incentive.

When I make a New Year's resolution, I tell other people about it so it puts pressure on me to stick with it. I'm also a big believer in rewarding myself when I succeed or accomplish something.

This is a new year. It's a fresh start -- a new page or chapter in your life. There will never be a better time to try something new. Maybe you want to start a blog, research your family history, learn first aid or start running. How about you just forgive someone? Or decide to worry less? Whatever you decide, make sure you can actually accomplish what you aim to do. Don't set yourself up for failure by creating unrealistic goals or putting them off indefinitely.

As author and minister Charles M. Sheldon said, "Good resolutions are like babies crying in church. They should be carried out immediately."

Maybe this year you want to do something different. Forget the boring, routine promises you struggle to keep. Try resolving to be more creative in 2014 with some of these suggestions:

-- Keep a journal. Spend a few minutes every day or so writing down your thoughts, feelings, dreams and ambitions -- not your daily schedule or your upcoming appointments. Record positive events, quotes and experiences. Let your mind wander a little. You may be surprised at the ideas you generate.

-- Read more. Vary your reading habits and explore different topics. If you usually read novels, try a biography. If you read only history, try a book on modern-day science. Read a good book every month if possible. You'll exercise your mind, and maybe find new connections between ideas.

-- Learn something new. Take a class in something unrelated to your job or your usual hobbies -- art, auto mechanics or a new language. Mastering new skills can refresh your outlook on life.

-- Meet new people. Make a conscious effort to make new friends or professional contacts this year. Look for gatherings of people whose interests match yours and network with them. The more people you know, the better equipped you are to learn and grow.

-- Create something for the heck of it. Paint a picture, write a poem or start a garden -- not because you'll get paid for it, but because you want to. How about starting a collection of something? You'll find satisfaction in achieving personal goals and motivation to keep trying new things.

-- Volunteer. Find a cause you support, and offer your time and service. You'll meet new people, enjoy the feeling of helping out with an important cause, and enhance your own skills.

-- Practice gratitude. Look for small gestures in everyday life that you are fortunate to experience. Seek out ways that you can be helpful; you will reap immediate rewards!

Mackay's Moral: A New Year's resolution should not be something that goes in one year and out the other! Happy 2014!

If you are a track and field fan, you probably know all about the "Fosbury Flop," a story that tells a world of things about innovation, persistence and a burning desire to win.

Dick Fosbury was a good high jumper and he seemed to have reached the maximum height his body could clear. But he kept an open mind and began to experiment with every different way a body could be propelled over the bar.

The style he finally developed was different than anyone else had ever seen. The jump is done head first, with the flat of the back clearing the bar and then the knees are drawn up, jackknife fashion. When people first saw him do it, they went away shaking their heads.

But in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, Dick Fosbury set a new Olympic high-jump record and won a gold medal for the United States. It was a triumph born of fresh thinking and dogged experimentation. Today, many of the world's best high jumpers base their jumping style on the Fosbury Flop.

"Business has only two functions," wrote management guru Peter Drucker, "marketing and innovation."

Innovation is what drives our great country. Look at all the great innovative companies, such as Bill Gates' Microsoft, Steve Jobs' Apple and Howard Schulz's Starbucks. These innovative leaders found a new or better way of doing something.

Domino's Pizza shocked the industry with the original idea of guaranteeing pizza delivery in 30 minutes or get $3 off.

Amway introduced multilevel marketing and turned a garage-based company with a quality product, unique packaging and distinctive labeling into a corporate giant.

Life Savers mints were a losing proposition until the company invented counter merchandising and the mints were prominently placed next to cash registers in convenience stores and restaurants.

Jeans pioneer Levi Strauss recognized the need for looser fitting, yet stylish casual pants and scored a big hit with Dockers slacks.

Other great companies have done similar innovative things. Look at Coke and all its combination of products in cans, plastic and glass bottles. Certainly no list of innovative companies would be complete without Google, Amazon or Facebook.

It's no wonder my good friend Denis Waitley says, "Innovators anticipate or create a need and fill it."

Innovations don't always come from big companies, though. I saw a study that listed 61 basic inventions, and only 16 were discovered by big companies. For example, Leo Gerstenzang thought of Q-Tips when he saw his wife trying to clean their children's ears with toothpicks and cotton balls. And Charles Strite invented the automatic toaster when a restaurant burnt his toast.

Legendary college basketball coach John Wooden changed the pace of the college basketball game by perfecting the fast break and won an unprecedented 10 NCAA championships in a 12-year period, many of which I attended. His teams made a lot of mistakes in honing their craft, but mistakes are the essence of innovation.

Innovation can be simply doing something different. For example, the National Bank of Detroit once offered its checking account customers $10 for every error they discovered. This marketing ploy in two months brought in 15,000 new accounts and more than $65 million in deposits.

Estee Lauder is credited with being the first company to offer a free gift with a purchase, helping the company grow substantially. Many companies now do this. That strategy sells an enormous amount of cosmetics.

The Hewlett-Packard Co. was famously founded in a one-car garage by William Hewlett and Dave Packard. It has become one of the world's most innovative and successful technology companies, but it's never lost sight of its founders' original vision. According to legend, these rules on innovation were posted in the garage:

-- Believe you can change the world.

-- Work quickly, keep the tools unlocked, work whenever.

-- Know when to work alone and when to work together.

-- Share -- tools, ideas. Trust your colleagues.

-- No politics. No bureaucracy. (These are ridiculous in a garage.)

-- The customer defines a job well done.

-- Radical ideas are not bad ideas.

-- Invent different ways of working.

-- Make a contribution every day. If it doesn't contribute, it doesn't leave the garage.

-- Believe that together we can do anything.

-- Invent.

Feel free to borrow these rules until you develop a set of your own. And then post them where you will see them every day. Be innovative!

Mackay's Moral: Maybe you can't change the whole world, but you can change your world.