Failure: use it as the steps to success. Don’t sit in the rubble, use it to get higher.
This time of year we often start doing an inventory of our life. Are we happy, did we reach our goals, is this what we planned, do we have a balance in our lifestyle and activities?
Some of us may actually do the opposite and avoid the idea of assessing, because deep down, we feel we are nowhere near the life we desire. We may be disappointed with the choices we’ve made or how they played out. We may even feel like a failure.
Often, we sit in that failure as a permanent seat. We may feel doomed to give up on ever reaching any dreams, moving forward or even having hope. It’s easy to just give up and think that we are the only ones who keep failing over and over again.
Especially when we have social media making us feel like everyone but us is living the life of their dreams. You rarely hear “I tried and failed gloriously. But I am going to try something new, keep trying till I get it right.” But there are much fewer people who really do get up and try again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.
That’s what really makes the difference. Not the perfect first choices, but the repeatedly trying.
What if, instead of settling into failure, we take the rubble of failure as the stepping stones to new successes? Look the failure over, learn from it, turn it over, look for what worked and what didn’t. Then take that information to step up to the next training opportunity.
Think of it as a set of stairs. You don’t walk up to them and suddenly jump to the top step. You work your way up, usually one or two at a time. And the more steps you climb, the stronger you become. The higher you climb, the more you see. The more failures you have, the more you know. Because the only people who have never failed are the people who have never done anything new.
Step up and start climbing!