When you’re willing to fail and keep going, you become unstoppable.
Think about it. Most of us pale at the idea of failing. We get a little sweaty. We tense up. We might even feel nauseous. These sensations are not super enjoyable. We want to get away from them, like immediately. And we do, which by the way, takes us away from trying new things and going after our goals.
But when you learn how to tolerate the idea of failure, you can feel these feelings, try anyways, fail, and then keep going, well, that is when the magic happens. The magic is this: you will learn. You will get better. You will gain the skills you need that you couldn’t gain by avoiding failure. Will you definitely succeed? Not necessarily but you’ll sure get closer than you would if you just didn’t try. That’s what being unstoppable is all about. It’s not about whether you hit your goal. It’s about your willingness and commitment to try, for the experience of trying, whether you hit the goal or not.
Is it as much fun as eating an ice cream cone? Probably not. But is it worth feeling nervous and sweaty in order to go after and maybe even achieve your dreams? That’s for you to answer, but for me, it’s a huge hell yes.
These past 2+ years running my business, I have experienced a lot of this firsthand. When I was doing my first Facebook posts about my coaching business, I felt like I was dying every single time. My brain was constantly offering me the thoughts that I never should have left corporate and who the hell did I think I was. Not the most enjoyable experience I’ve ever had, but believe me when I say I wouldn’t trade it. Because what I learned was that I could show up anyway, sweaty and a little nauseous, being trolled by my own brain. I could write Facebook posts that people didn’t like or comment on, and I wouldn’t die. In fact, I’d often learn something that would make later posts better. And if nothing happened, I still got the practice and built up some muscle memory that made it easier with time.
Leaving my old job and starting this business had been my goal for a long time. I wanted it really badly. And still, my fear of doing it wrong or looking dumb or never getting any clients was huge. HUGE. It took everything I had in me to do the early work. And it was totally worth it. Not because I got to where I am now, although it’s amazing and I love it. But instead because what I learned is so much bigger. I learned how to try and fail and keep going. I learned how to accept and tolerate failure, and eventually, I even learned to embrace it as an essential part of my path forward.
You can learn this, too. And you will delight and amaze yourself with what you can do when you’re willing to fail and keep going.
This is the final week of our month on failure, and I have LOVED it. It’s amazing how much I can love this topic that used to feel so painful. Thank you so much for joining me. And here’s your final failure challenge: take failing on purpose to the next level. Pick one thing you want to learn to do, whether it’s writing SQL queries or saying no to your boss or learning a line dance in your living room, and commit to it. Fail on purpose, learn, repeat, as many times as it takes. Let failure be your guide to crushing your goal, and be really kind to yourself along the way. You’re doing it right by failing after all.
Love this challenge and want to take it even deeper?
I’d be delighted to help you out with that. Also, bonus: my coaching packages are totally virtual so as to better serve my global audience (and yes, I’ve worked with people who are not native English speakers with great success). Learn more here.