Failure does not exist as long as......
Hi lovely people,
Following on from last week’s email, Action Over Perfection (you can catch up and read it here if you missed it), this week we explore failure.
How do you see failure?
Like most things, failure is always defined by how we perceive or react to it.
Failure can be polarised like this. You could see it negatively and say “What a waste of time”, “I’m never going to be able to do this”, “I’m giving up”.
OR
Failure can be seen as a success, “What can I learn from this”? “What can I do differently next time”? “How can I improve”?
Every single success has a number of “failures” that led to that success. Every single failure can be learned from.
Mindset is everything and here is how you can grow
Firstly, allow yourself to feel exactly what you feel and lean in to that feeling for a short time. By doing this, your brain will be quieter and you will move more easily to acceptance
Create a small list of positive actions you can take. The results of this will be amazing. It will help you move from negative thinking and action. Your default reaction might be to do something unhealthy like eating, drinking or taking drugs to “numb” yourself. This never works. A positive list will help you keep on track. Go for a walk, eat something healthy or call a friend.
Another useful way is to reframe what failure really is. A great and simple distinction is to say that “I tried, I will look at what I did and try again”. Our brains cope much better with positive statements.
It will also help you to research a little on “famous” failures. Henry Ford’s first two car companies “failed”, Oprah Winfrey was fired early on as a news anchor and Sir James Dyson went through 5,126 “failed” prototypes of vacuum cleaners.
Do a bit of reflection on what could be done better or differently next time. Actually acknowledging you can make changes and improvements is another strong reinforcement for the way you think
Just think about this…….
Sometimes even the thought of failure is so strong, that you may not even attempt your wish or dream. Without overthinking, imagine yourself in a few months having taken bold action. How would you be feeling? How would taking that action have improved your life? If it didn’t go to plan, what could you do better and differently to make it a success next time?
Summary
The main difference in people that take action and carry on pursuing their dreams is their ability to not dwell negatively for too long and even reframe their so-called failures as a learning game. Mental resilience is your ability to cope well with life’s ups and downs.
By working on yourself through positive reinforcement, you will create new neural pathways in you brain. This is now easily demonstrated and proven in MRI scans. So for those of us who like to rationalise and see proven facts, this is a proof that you can change how you think.
So failure need not exist as long as you practice these simple (not easy) techniques – Do this and feel better!
You are all amazing,
John
If you would like conversation or are interested to know what it would be like to work with me…….
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