“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill
Does failing actually make you a failure?
OR are you of the belief that adversity builds character?
Watch the video as I share one of my biggest learns and 3 simple steps YOU can use to keep moving in the face of perceived failure
Failures are an inevitable part of life. To find the beauty that exists in each failure, we must first redefine failure as an opportunity. An opportunity to learn, grow, expand, and become more. It’s an opportunity to examine the data, learn and course correct. It is only when you are willing to shift your mindset and reframe failure that you are able to bounce back and find the lesson hidden in the experience we choose to label failure.
Here are 3 simple steps you can use to develop the habit of shifting your mindset and looking at failure as an opportunity to learn and grow.
1- Acceptance: It Is What It Is!
Within every perceived failure is valuable data. Acceptance is to look at the data without judgement, shame or blame. To simply get present to what is. When you sit in acceptance, you will soon begin to see failures as a valuable resource to determine which parts of your plan are working and which areas are misguided and in need of a new strategy.
2- 100% Responsibility!
Responsibility is simply your ability to assess a situation and respond in a manner that moves you forward. To respond is to manage the emotions that give rise to shame, blame, guilt or judgement. It is to powerfully choose your next action. Without the clutter of negative emotions, the mind will move to the solution and begin to ask solution-focused questions. ‘What’s one thing I can learn from this?’ or ‘What’s one thing I can do differently the next time?’ Failures then become simply a part of the learning process as you begin to constructively work through a situation.
3- Take Action!
Now that you have accepted, processed and taken 100% responsibility for your situation, the next step is to course correct and act. By getting into action, with an empowered definition of failure, you are able to get feedback that helps you continually adjust your course and readjust your plan.
Failure is the resistance necessary for change and learning to occur. Its sole purpose is for us to examine our outcomes, course correct, grow and meet the next best version of ourselves.
I invite you to consider a current challenge or an endeavour where you thought you failed. Now, look at your failure as your opportunity to grow and learn. Rewrite your story, course correct and act.