Choosing to fail

Yes, I did mean to write that.

I get it you don’t like to fail. You’ve probably failed in the past and the last thing you want to do is have those same feelings of inadequacy. But you need to fail and you need to fail often.

Failure is the direct result of trying and actually doing something. The only real way to not fail is to never do anything. failure and growth go hand in hand.

Benefiting from failure

Think about a baby learning to walk. She will balance herself by grabbing on to the table and take a step. She falls but she keeps trying. Then she will try it without any hands. Again, she falls but she keeps trying. Eventually, the results are a few steps back to back – or as proud parents would say success.

As we grow up we lose this need to try even after we fail.

Fear gets the best of us and we hide in the comforts of doing what we know. Can you imagine if you lived that way as a baby? You would be crawling instead of walking or running. That’s a big difference. Trying, failing and eventually succeeding will get you places.

As you fail

Here are a few things you can o to get the most out of failing.

• Reflect – take time to soak in what happened. Mourn. Failing can be like losing something that was a big part of you.
• Learn – As you reflect write down all the lessons you learned. What would you differently? What would you do the same?
• Teach – Here is one that might get overlooked. Teach others from your mistakes. There are some people that would love to learn from your experiences.