Failure Doesn’t Have To Be Scary…

When most of us hear the word failure, we experience fear, anger and negativity. Even so, failure is a part of life and the number one lesson I’ve learned through my experiences with failure is that it doesn’t have to be a negative experience. Trust me, I am my biggest critic. As most of my friends will tell you, I am a perfectionist and the idea that I wasn’t able to do something drives me crazy. I’ve messed up speeches in school, had nightmare shoots, sent emails full of mistakes, made mistakes on assignments, you name it. But I also know, I’m not alone in this. I have found that when adopting three simple principles when approaching a situation where I have “failed”, I am able to channel my negative energy into positivity, which usually leads to something wonderful. I wanted to share these three simple thoughts with you and hopefully show you how failure isn’t something to fear.

Take Something Away

In every “failure,” there is a lesson. Although it is so easy to be sucked into the abyss and find yourself surrounded by negativity from the situation, it takes great mental strength to instead see the light. Rather than focusing on everything horrible, instead, focus on what you can take away that will enrich your future life. A perfect recent example for me is my battle with Instagram and the algorithm. At first, I sulked. Why were my numbers so low? Why weren’t my posts reaching my audience? I found a reason to blame everything else. It wasn’t until I stopped and looked for the lesson in the situation, that I was able to stand back up and succeed. Once I started to create better quality content that my followers wanted to see, the rest followed. So, rather than seeing “failure” as the end game, use it as a stepping stone. Find the lesson, learn from it and apply it in your next try. You are 100% sure to do better.

I was so unhappy with this photo and I was struggling with the light but I just kept trying until I got the shot!

Turn a Negative Into A Positive

Again, this is easier said than done and trust me, I have many days where I struggle to see the positive, but on the days where I do, I find success to be closer than I thought. With any “failure” it is easier to see all the things you did wrong than to see all that you did right. I always find that when I reflect on the situation as a whole, understand what went wrong, but also what went right, I find myself more inclined to try again. Even if you are only able to find one positive from the whole situation, allow the positive energy to encourage you to try again. Remember, a small step leads to a bigger leap. Trust yourself, and remind yourself that you can still do this! It’s only human to make a mistake, but I guarantee that you’ve done more right than wrong!

Remember, You Define Your Parameters

If you’ve noticed, I’ve put the word failure in quotations through my post. I do this to remind myself and to remind you that “failure” doesn’t exist until you let it. This is a concept I’ve mentioned before when I shared the five lessons I learned when I moved away from home. We are responsible for defining our parameters and criteria. If you do not succeed the first time, it is not a “failure” unless you do not try again. If you keep trying and eventually make it, you never failed, it was all just a part of your journey. I always remind myself that each time I feel like I have not succeeded, I just have to pick myself up and try again and I will get there and you can too.

I hope that you feel encouraged and inspired to turn every situation into a positive one. Remember that there is always a chance to try again, you just have to take it!  How do you deal with failure? Do you have any tips to share with me?

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