I know most of us don't like to fail. To be honest, there are things that we don't do because we think we might fail at it. We don't apply for that job, we don't ask for a raise, we ask the person we are interested in out, we don't open our business, we don't go back to school... I can go on and on and on with the things that we don't do because we are scared of the failing. Well guess what, in somethings, you are going to fail and it is okay. At least by failing you made and attempt and realized that what ever method you were taking to accomplish that goal didn't work. Let's try a different way or something different all together. Failure is NEVER the end... unless you let it be. If you fail and then you sit there in your failure and have a good ole fashioned "pity party", it could be the end. One thing to help determine whether it is the end is the people you invite to your "party". Are these people that have also tried and failed and you attended their party? Or are these the people in your circle that will see trying to have a party and crash it, pick you up and help you to move forward? (See blogs Circle of Friends and Who's In Your Circle) You need to make sure you are surrounded by people who have your best interest at heart and not selfish gains. As I stated failure is not optional, you cannot avoid it. The key is how do you deal with it. I have heard many people avoid the word "failure" and use the term "Lesson Learned". I think that is great if that will help you change your thinking about what just happened. It is a lesson learned if you learn the lesson it is teaching you. Like at school, if the teacher is giving you a lesson but you never have a test, how do you know that you learned something and learned it correctly? Same thing with life, if you get a lesson that you should have learned from, but you never give yourself the opportunity to prove you've learned because you stop trying, then did you really learn? You gave up and that is worse. You completely stopped trying and that will get you nowhere except for right where you are. No forward movement, no backward movement, no movement at all. At least if you try again you can see if you have learned the lesson. If you get same lesson again, that means you didn't learn and you need to re-evaluate what you thought you learned and try again. Never give up. Never stop trying. Baby steps are better than no steps. Heck, "backward" steps are better than no steps because at least you are trying and you will eventually get somewhere. If you don't try, then where you is where you are going to be.
I am not telling you this like I have it all together, this is still an issue that I deal with but by doing my blogs, videos and podcasts, I am working past it. When you are starting something you have the "What if it doesn't work", "What if people don't like it", "Who am I to be doing what I am doing" and you can fill in your "What if". I have answers for each of those, What if it does work and you Bless someone's life with what you have to say. Who cares what people have to say. They are not you. (See blogs "Who Cares What People Think" and "Your Opinion.... Who Cares") These uncharted waters of doing something new, is so worth the effort. I have dealt with a lot of "Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda" thoughts in my life and I don't want you to do the same. Let's start to overcome that fear of failure and understand it is just a part of the process. (See blog "No Don't Hurt")
#ReadySetGo #NoMoreExcuses #WordsByWimberly #FailureIsNotOptional