Never say, "oops." Always say, "Ah, interesting." - Author Unknown
So many of us fear failure because we take it as a personal reflection of our own worth and capability in life. We think that if we didn’t do well at one thing it must mean that we will never be good at it, or anything else we try.
We think it means that we’re less of a person or we’re destined for a life of mediocrity. Even worse is when a failed attempt seems to reinforce the limiting messages we’ve been fed by others in our lives. “Mom always said I wasn’t the lucky type; I guess she was right . . .”
Nothing could be further from the truth! Failure at anything simply means that we now have a wonderful learning opportunity in the palm of our hand. We tried one way, and it didn’t work. That just means we need to find another way – or retry the first way (depending upon the situation).
It could mean that we didn’t give our full effort because we weren’t feeling too confident about our ability to succeed, or it could mean that we need to try several times until we really master the activity. It could even mean that circumstances weren’t right and the timing was off, but if we try again it might work like a charm next time.
DON’T let failure hold you back from trying something new! In fact, look forward to failure because it will teach you a lot about yourself and your resiliency. When something doesn’t go as planned, look at it objectively and ask why.
Did you do something you shouldn’t have? Did you not do something you could have? Did you approach the goal from a less than favorable angle? Could you try again from a better angle, or with a different mind-set, or using different action steps? You are bound to achieve favorable results if you keep working at it.
If you stop working at it and don’t learn anything from the experience, THAT’S what you call failure.
So many of us fear failure because we take it as a personal reflection of our own worth and capability in life. We think that if we didn’t do well at one thing it must mean that we will never be good at it, or anything else we try.
We think it means that we’re less of a person or we’re destined for a life of mediocrity. Even worse is when a failed attempt seems to reinforce the limiting messages we’ve been fed by others in our lives. “Mom always said I wasn’t the lucky type; I guess she was right . . .”
Nothing could be further from the truth! Failure at anything simply means that we now have a wonderful learning opportunity in the palm of our hand. We tried one way, and it didn’t work. That just means we need to find another way – or retry the first way (depending upon the situation).
It could mean that we didn’t give our full effort because we weren’t feeling too confident about our ability to succeed, or it could mean that we need to try several times until we really master the activity. It could even mean that circumstances weren’t right and the timing was off, but if we try again it might work like a charm next time.
DON’T let failure hold you back from trying something new! In fact, look forward to failure because it will teach you a lot about yourself and your resiliency. When something doesn’t go as planned, look at it objectively and ask why.
Did you do something you shouldn’t have? Did you not do something you could have? Did you approach the goal from a less than favorable angle? Could you try again from a better angle, or with a different mind-set, or using different action steps? You are bound to achieve favorable results if you keep working at it.
If you stop working at it and don’t learn anything from the experience, THAT’S what you call failure.
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