Failure - What if there was no such thing?

Failure – wow isn’t that an ominous word. It is a word that strikes fear into many. It is the excuse or reason many use to stay stuck. Is the fear of failure keeping you stuck from reaching your goals and designing the life that you truly want?

The definition of failure, as defined by the Webster Dictionary, is “a state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, opposite of success”.

Have you ever heard the statement or maybe you even said it yourself; “I couldn’t possibly do that, what if it didn’t work out – what if I failed”? If you knew you could not fail, what would you do? If you were guaranteed success what would you attempt?

I can hear you already, yeah but there is no such guarantee, it is more likely that I am going to fail then it is that I will succeed. Just take a look at my past that is proof enough for anyone to agree. So what is the sense in “dreaming” or “wishing” about something I know will not happen - success?

Let’s take a deeper look at failure and why I believe that there is such a guarantee and that no one fails if they choose not to.

First - What is your definition of failure?

Second - Where in your life do you believe you failed?

Third - Would you be happier only if you could erase all those failures from your past?

Okay, so what does your definition of failure look like? Is it the grim negative definition that Webster uses, is it the direct opposite of success? My definition is a little less depressing. I define failure as my unwillingness to learn from my mistakes. I believe that failures, or not meeting our intended goal or outcomes, are put into our world to teach us something. So when I attempt to accomplish something and it doesn’t work out the way I envisioned it, then I say to myself; okay, well that didn’t work out exactly how I wanted it to, but what can I learn about myself as a result? Only my own unwillingness to learn something is the failure.

I have a whole list of examples I could share with you, but one big one is my divorce. Pretty much by anyone’s standards a divorce is a failure. So how did I turn this around into a success? I just looked at my definition of failure and started to look at my marriage and figured out what I learned about myself and what I gained from being in the marriage. I then saved this information for use in any future relationships so I won’t make the same mistakes again. As long as I am willing to learn and grow from my experiences, it’s not truly a failure then is it?

So even though my marriage ended in divorce, I would not have wanted to erase the experience. If it did not happen, then I would not have learned and gained all that I did from the experience and as a result would not be the person I am today.

Now that you know that you are in control of your successes and/or failures let me ask you the questions again – “If you knew you could not fail, what would you do? If you were guaranteed success what would you attempt?” Make a list and start today. You have nothing to lose right, because as long as you are willing to learn from the experience, you can never fail! So get started, you will be glad you did, and if nothing else you will have a great story to tell your kids, grandkids or friends.

Still not willing to step outside of your comfort zone and take that risk? Do you really want to but can’t do it alone, then I encourage you to hire a coach to support you in taking that risk. Contact me today for a free sample session at www.lisafredette.com and start living your life by your own terms.

Failure - What if there was no such thing? - To learn more about this author, visit Lisa A. Fredette's Website.

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