“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with failure.” – Abraham Lincoln
Most people don’t like the idea of failure. I mean why would they, right? Failing evokes emotions within us that make us feel uncomfortable. At a first glance, failing can be the result of poor decisions or just a failed business concept but as entrepreneurs we have to get comfortable with failing because it’s part of the process. Brene Brown said it perfectly, too often, people say that failure is not an option. But Brown suggests (in this article) that failure is not only an option, but essential to creative thinking and running a business. “It’s the entrepreneur who can say that failure is an option — I need to turn this around.” she said. “If you don’t believe that failure is an option, you are just grinding harder at the same thing you’ve already tried.” Instead of keeping the mindset that failure is bad, entrepreneurs can look for creative ways to approach the same problem for better results.
Success can’t be achieved without failure, often times we feel broken when we fail but the power to stand up and face our failure is what defines us and our business. As entrepreneurs we need learn to face the fact that we might fail and teach ourselves how to welcome it into our lives. Sounds crazy, right? I mean who would want to welcome failure? Well, I do, and I hope at the end of this post you will feel the same.
Have you ever wondered why failure is good for success? Here is how to deal with business failure:
It helps you reach your true potential
No one can attain full success without having to go through some disappointments. Failure is what pushes you to do better and reach your true potential. Sometimes it isn’t until we fail that we truly align ourselves with what we are meant to do. Our entrepreneurial journey is constantly changing to match our best self – so it’s normal for the business path to look different from when we started. Entrepreneurial journeys are rarely described in a straight path. Our businesses are a series of winding roads and sometimes uphill battles that lead to helping us refocus our efforts and become better in our craft.
Learning how to cope with failure will make you stronger
As Certified Life Coach Pam Bauer put it in an article for the Huffington Post, “Failure is a skill to develop. If you’re good at falling down and getting back up, you’ll be confident going into new situations because you know you’ll be OK no matter what happens.” Overtime failure helps us become more resilient to the challenges we all have to face in life. Always remember that our dreams are on the other side of those obstacles that we have to overcome in order to grow and become stronger. The massive growth in your business will only come if you lean into important learning moments. These moments will set you up to grow and succeed!
“The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.” -Buddha
Failure is temporary
I hope you realize failure is temporary, and failure is good even if, undeniably, it feels really bad when it happens. When something goes wrong, we need to learn to say, “something good is happening here and dig deeper into the situation to find answers”. Your dedication to pursuing your purpose even during temporary moments of failure will be rewarded with personal and business achievement. Napoleon Hill reminds us, ” you only really fail when you quit” so make sure that you don’t let the negative experiences last for too long – you are in control of how long you dwell in it.
Failure reminds us that we are human
One of the lessons we can take from failure is learning to be humble and vulnerable. Vulnerability does not mean weakness but instead a way to be fully seen by ourselves and those around us. The biggest lessons in life come from vulnerable moments when we are willing to listen and be open. So, don’t let the fear of failure stop you from letting yourself be still with your feelings. When we fail the first thing many of us do is start judging ourselves. We assume that we need to have it all figured it out and we don’t. We are human and failing is part of our journey. One of the things that help me cope with failure is to have a support system of people that I can share these emotions with.
You will find the right direction
Most inspiring stories of successful people don’t end with them finding success in their first round – all great inventions are a result of series failed attempts. Use failure as a sign to move in a different direction – there’s always something to learn from your mistakes no matter how many times you have failed. Failure can help us analyze our strength and our weaknesses and give us a clearer perspective on our business’ goals.
“Vulnerability is the core of shame, fear and a struggle for worthiness, but it appears that is also the birthplace of joy, of creativity, belonging, and love” – Brene Brown
Here at Urbanpreneur we define failure as an opportunity to listen to a deeper message unfolding in our lives. Life is our biggest spiritual teacher and when things are going well there is a message in those moments, affirming that we are honoring our authentic selves. Similarly, when things are unraveling, and we are feeling paralyzed with inaction and indecision the human tendency is to become frightened and to freeze.
What we resist persists thinking “a failure will define us” is the very thing that prevents the doorway of new possibilities to emerge. In the failure process try to stop and listen guidance form your higher self is waiting to give its sage advice and to help you learn and grow. We help our community of entrepreneurs lean into these moments with our guidance and support.
Be kind to yourself and embrace failure – you got this!
So, tell us, how do you plan to deal with business failure?
