“Success is not final; failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” ~Winston Churchill
Today we’re talking about failure. When the topic of failure came into my email. I immediately noticed a resistance to the label, “failure.” Hummm…. There’s something here for me to look at…
Failure. It’s just a freakin’ word! A label I’ve given meaning and attached value to.
Failure is such a loaded word — I like ‘course correction’ better.
Take a check for yourself. Notice if you, too, are uncomfortable with the word ‘failure.’
Why is that?
Because somewhere in our past, we learned to believe it said something about who we and how well we’re living our lives, right? Can you relate?
When I notice a glitch like this to a particular word or something, I like to stop and walk it back to the simplicity of facts, rather than the emotional reaction to them.
For me, stopping and copping to failing at something is a crucial step toward opening my mind to seeing the situation in a whole new way.
Anytime I resist, I know it is an invitation from life to drop an old construct I have, and open my mind and heart to seeing it a different way — one that speaks to a fun adventure inside me.
For this reason I knew ‘failure’ was the perfect topic for this week’s discussion.
When I look at the actuality of my life, I see how failure has play a role in every life-changing event in my life. Now failure has a different texture to it. And I see that I’ve already found a new way of looking at failure as a springboard that has encouraged me to dust myself off and try something new.
I had one of those amazing ‘aha’ moments this week … and I’m still totally in awe of the shift in me!
I was listening to a podcast and it’s like all the sudden I realized I’ve been wrong about how I have been seeing this authoring and marketing thing!
It started with the thought, “I’m failing at this authoring thing.”
The next thought was, “is it true?” Then, “what is it about this situation that I’m failing at?”
Marketing! Holy shit! I’ve been wrong about how I’m seeing this!
What’s so crazy is that I’ve been avoiding it like the plague — and now see it it was an adventure in disguise the whole time. I just was looking through the eyes of an old, unexamined belief.
Now I see what I thought as failure as way of opening myself to new options, to learning and fresh experiences. There’s a whole different way of looking at it, a ton of things to learn and try — a whole new adventure to go on! One I’d don’t want to miss!
Anytime you say yes to anything worth doing, there will be risk and stakes.
Risk plus stakes means failure is on the table. It is a relentless part of anything worth doing. Has to be. Saying yes to a something great that holds the potential of awesomeness also means saying yes to the possibility of it failing. And actually, to tons of little failures necessary for course correction.
I’m looking at failing now, as ‘here’s this one thing’ that isn’t going to work. So, I’m checking that method off and trying something new.
This is what I’m doing with marketing my books. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
The only way we can succeed in any endeavor is to accept failure as not only an option, but a necessary part of the equation. So failure is just another name for the way we course correct.
Where in your life are you being invited to course correct — to open your mind to seeing another way of doing something? Or maybe even, to scrap what you’re doing, so something else has room to come to you?
Have a yummy week & a yummy day!