What do you believe about failure?

The wounded ego part of ourselves, the left brain that has been programmed with many false beliefs, often believes that:

“If I fall, I’m a failure.”

“If I fail, I’m stupid.”

“If I fail, no one will love me or value me.”

“If I fail, then there is no point in trying again.”

“If I fail, it will mark me for life as incompetent.”

“If I fail, everyone who thought I was smart will now think I’m stupid.”

“If I fail, I will have made a fool of myself.”

On the other hand, the loving adult part of us, our open, creative, learning right brain, generally believes that:

“If I fail, then I just need to work harder, try harder.”

“If I fail, I will have learned valuable lessons that will eventually lead me to success.”

“Failure is a part of life. Nobody succeeds without some failure.”

“Failure does not reflect on my worth as a person at all. I am inherently worthy, regardless of success or failure.”

“Failure offers me incredible opportunities to think outside the box, to think creatively. Let’s get to work!”

“I love learning and I love challenges. What I do is not about success or failure, it is about the joy of creativity, learning and expressing who I am.”

What way of thinking prevails within you? What are the consequences for you of allowing yourself to think from your wounded self instead of your Loving adult?

Failure: a part of life

The fact is that mistakes and failure ARE a part of life. Instead of fearing them, why not make it okay to make mistakes and fail? Why not take responsibility for failure? Why not embrace the process of learning and growing instead of solely focusing on the outcome of your efforts? Why not focus on enjoying the learning process and creating something that is important to you?

People who don’t care about success or failure, but are enthusiastic about their process of learning and growing, usually find a way to succeed. The reason for this is that they don’t let failure stop them. Instead, failure drives them to work harder, to push themselves even harder to learn what they need to learn to succeed.

On the other hand, even highly intelligent people, who are dominated by their wounded egos, usually allow failure to derail them. Believing they ARE a failure if they fail, they are too afraid to try harder. In addition, they tend to believe that success or failure does not depend on effort, but on ability. When this is their belief, they often give up at the first sign of failure, fearing that if their natural intelligence and ability do not lead to success, then there is no point in trying harder.

creating success

Every successful person knows that effort, creativity, openness to learning, and perseverance are what create success, not necessarily great intelligence, talent, or ability. Every truly successful person is someone who hasn’t let failure stop them from moving forward with passion and purpose.

I encourage you to tell yourself that it is okay to make mistakes and fail. I encourage you to view mistakes and failures as wonderful learning opportunities for growth. I encourage you to put the outcome aside and allow yourself to be fully excited by the process of learning, growing, and creating. Being fully present and excited about the process is what life is all about!