Failure.
Just the word might send shivers down your back. Cause you to freeze. Hesitate to take a step forward. Maybe feel your blood pressure rise.
None of us want to fail. We’ve been schooled not to fail. We’ve been told…and probably often… that “failure is not an option.”
Well, failure is an option.
And often a very good one.
Failure does have a useful side. Failure means we’re testing our boundaries, not staying still or stagnant or safely hanging out in our usual spot doing the same-old same-old. Every business fails, from the big ones, like Starbucks, to the small ones like, you and me.
Failure becomes your friend when you learn from it, adjust what you’re doing, and then move forward in a smarter way.
Now I’ve got a request of you (you knew this was coming…you know I’m not just writing to yak away the time…enlightenment is wonderful; action is pretty great, too).
Do the ONE THING you think you cannot do.
Write it down. What’s that one thing?
Now go do it.
How did it go?
Did you fail? It’s okay.
Learn from it. What worked and what didn’t work.
Try again.
Do better the second time.
The only people who do not tumble are those who never mount the high wire.
Did you succeed? Congrats to you. And, hey, you did something you thought you couldn’t. You stretched your boundaries. What else do you think you cannot do (psst…go do that now).
Yes, it takes a little courage. I know you have some of that.
And remember, courage is not the absence of fear of failure. It’s the triumph over it.
This is your moment. Own it.