I fail. I’ve failed a lot in my life. Many don’t see the failures. But the reality is that WE ALL FAIL. People don’t like to talk about their failures. They don’t post about them on Facebook. They don’t tell you about it over coffee. They don’t share, sometimes even with their own family. So it’s easy to think everyone has these awesome perfect lives. But we all have failure. You may only see the successes – when folks are at the high point. But believe me, there were many failures before they reached that summit of success.
“It is impossible to live without failing at something. Unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all. In which case you fail by default.” -J.K. Rowling
Here’s the thing about failure – when you face them, you have a choice. I have chosen over the years to put on my big girl panties and try again. Sometimes it’s those failures themselves that lead us to the greatest lessons, successes and happiness in our lives. I have absolutely no plan on failing by default in life. How about you?
And really, there’s no such thing as failure. Only missed opportunities when you give up or don’t try. And lessons learned when you may miss the mark and fail. The important lesson is to use your failure as momentum to move you forward.
You get as much from your losses as you do from your victories. The losses are there to wake you up. Your life is bigger than any one failure. Try, fail, and then RELAX. It’s going to be okay. Detours happen. Failures happen. Don’t be overwhelmed and lose it – because your life is bigger than that one moment or one failure.
My biggest failures in life have been my greatest teachers. Those moments have brought me where I am today. They allowed me to grow. They allowed me to push forward and realize that yes, it’s going to be ok. That one failure or one challenge doesn’t define your entire life. It doesn’t define your future. Only you do that.
The ability to fall down, brush yourself off, and try again is what will set you apart from those who never really decided to succeed.
Fail Greatly
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” -Robert F. Kennedy
Great leaders are not afraid to have massive, epic failures. To “fail greatly”. To crash and burn. I have failed greatly. This has allowed me to learn. To grow. To see what went wrong and not repeat those mistakes but instead learn new ways of doing things.
Because I’ve failed greatly, I have also been able to achieve greatly. These failures and lessons can teach you so much. They eventually allow you to achieve greatly. So go on, keep failing greatly because the next awesome achievement is right around the corner.
Fail Better
In addition to failing greatly, successful people learn to “fail better”. “Fail better” means you own your story, you own your failures, and realize that your failure is a part of what makes you human, teaches you resilience, and shows you what you are truly made of. Failing better means when these things happen in our lives, that they don’t make us stuck but instead teach us great lessons which help create momentum in our lives to move forward.
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” -Maya Angelou. Our defeats allow us to fail better and to realize how strong we really are.
Your Challenge: Achieve Epic Success by Not Being Afraid to Fail
Successful leaders are not afraid to fail. They take risks. They try things that have never been done.
They see the “what if” as an opportunity, a challenge. They fail greatly. They fail better. They learn from their failure. Every successful entrepreneur and leader has the ability to persist in spite of trials or setbacks. From there new lessons are learned and new opportunities are sought.
Successful people not only make mistakes, they tend to make more mistakes than people who are unsuccessful. Why? Because they take action. They don’t have to have all the answers today, nor any guarantees for success before they start. The important thing is that they start – they act.
Those who are unsuccessful in life are often so afraid of failure that they fail to act. Those who achieve massive success often have massive failures. They learn from them. They try again. They continue to move forward no matter what.
They don’t let fear of failure paralyze them. They make mistakes but they don’t dwell on the mistakes they made, instead they learn and grow from those mistakes. They use their mistakes as a catalyst to do better. They learn. They grow. They succeed. Because of those failures. Because of being brave enough to rise above their fear of failure.
Failure is really an opportunity to try again.
Accept it, learn from it and live a life with no regrets for failing to act!
Don’t let fear of failure win.
Look fear in the face, do it anyway and if you fail, at least you can say you tried.
Never, ever give up on your dreams…on yourself…and on your life.
Fail greatly and fail better to achieve massive, epic success.
I have no plans to fail by default. I will continue to live fully, take risks and fail along the way.
To fail greatly. To fail better. How about you?
Momentum Moment: Take a few minutes and answer these questions. This reflection is helpful as you continue to achieve success and momentum in your life.
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What is something that you have learned from a failure you’ve had? How has it helped you grow? What did that failure teach you?
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Are you being epic and brave in your life and business by not being afraid to fail, and by failing greatly and failing better? If not, what’s holding you back? Share and let me help you create the momentum you need.
#failure #success #leadership #achievement #resilience #momentum
