Fear of Failure is Holding You Back in Your Business. Here’s How to Fix It.
Guest post written by Jordan Maney. Visit Jordan’s Website
What if I told you failure is inevitable as a business owner? That it’s not a possible destination but rather a guaranteed part of the route? It may be hard to hear, but it’s absolutely what you need to hear right now. You’ll fail...and that’s okay!
“Failure honestly needs a rebrand.”
Failure honestly needs a rebrand. It’s gotten a bad reputation for being the scary thing you don’t want to have happen to you. But the truth is if you live long enough and if you have a healthy relationship with risk, eventually it’s a game of diminishing returns — you will fail. That doesn’t take the sting out of it but it doesn’t have to be a terrifying thought. Instead, try and see failure through a different lens.
Failure As A Tool For Investigation
Not that kind of tool...although it can make you feel like one. But once you’ve had time to lick your wounds it’s time to use what didn’t work to identify what could have worked instead.
Use your failure as a magnifying glass to look at the details with fresh eyes. Maybe your launch didn’t work because you didn’t spend enough time priming your base. Maybe your event didn’t have great turnout because the location was out of range for most of your audience. These are all ways we can look at failure as a tool for investigation. It may feel hard at first to look even more closely at what didn’t work but it’s guaranteed to help you in the future.
Failure As A Foundation For Growth
Once you’ve really looked at your failure it’s time to build upon it. What can be mined from the experience that can be used in the future? What are the gems? What went well? What did you like about the process? These questions can help you identify what did work well so you can separate it from what didn’t. It’s important to see those components separately so you can see the failure isn’t everything, usually just a small part of the overall trajectory of your business.
Failure As An Opportunity To Learn
Now that you’ve looked under the hood, it’s time to try again. Aaliyah said “If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again.” Try again you must! So how to do that?
With the information you’ve gathered around what works and the information you have about what didn’t, it’s time to do a bit of research. How could things go better in the future? What do you need to add, know, or delegate to make this time around successful? How can you divorce yourself from unrealistic expectations?
Once you’re feeling ready to get back into the saddle, pay closer attention to your process this time around. Document how it played out last time so you have an idea of what to anticipate this time. Then write down what changed in your latest iteration. Continue to steer yourself in the direction you want by monitoring where you are.
Failure isn’t a bad thing and it doesn’t have to be a permanent designation! Use it to help you in the future so you don’t stay stuck with it in the past.
