How to Overcome Failure

“You can’t fail unless you quit” ~ Russel Simmons

Have you ever not done something because you were afraid to fail?

A common block to even getting started on a project is the fear of failure. For some reason failure is a scary place to be because it means that all our hard work and energy was for nothing. It will prove to us our biggest fear­: that hard work doesn’t always pay off. We would rather not find out that we might fail, just so that our mind can hold onto an imaginary idea that really we could win, but we are choosing not to.

But when you make your choices from a place of fear, you are being held hostage from your own mind. Yet, somehow this is easier than daring to push forward, and daring to step into the unknown where failure is possible.

Didn’t Edison fail a thousand times before he learned to create the light bulb? But you see Edison had it right. He never failed; he simply learned a thousand ways of how NOT to create a light bulb!

That right there is the magic. It all lies in the mental mind-shift, of how you see things. When things don’t work out, instead of calling it a failure, reframe the incident as a learning experience.

Allowing yourself to fail is quite a freeing experience for several reasons. First of all, it is never as bad as you thought. Secondly, you learn about what does not work. Thirdly, you build the inner muscle of perseverance, to keep going and keep working. This alone builds the strength to succeed and I am convinced that this alone helps the breakthrough and success appear.

You know a few weeks ago I spent several hours organizing my articles into categories. In a way it was a total failure and took several hours of my life. I later found an easier faster way to organize everything, which was as simple as turning all these newsletters I have written over the last several months into a blog. But on the other hand, I learned to accept that sometimes we spend time on things that don’t work out and that’s OK. The energy alone of working hard is part of what creates the magic of finding a better solution.

The final word: You only really fail if you give up trying or don’t start altogether. So, are you ready to get started? What have you been avoiding out of fear and what are you willing to do today to take action anyways? Report your insights and action steps over in the comments. And please share on facebook and with friends.