Failure is a big issue for many entrepreneurs. It’s rare to meet an entrepreneur or business owner who doesn’t have a fear of failure. However, failure may not feel that great when you’re experiencing it, but it is sometimes a good thing for our business and our own personal development. Because if you can’t get over that fear of failing, you’re going to struggle to reach the levels of success you know you’re capable of achieving.
You actually learn a lot through failure – more so than you do with our successes. So, the bad reputation that is linked to failure isn’t really helpful or accurate. Failure teaches us valuable life skills, such as the ability to bounce back, reconsider our options and think outside the box for more creative solutions.
Failure tends to have a bit of a bad rep!
The biggest issue with failure is we all take it so seriously (and personally!). Social media has opened the floodgates and given us a peek into the lives of others. Comparisionitis is rife, as we are all bombarded with images and statuses celebrating successes and seeing how great other people’s lives are. The yardstick used to measure our own levels of success and failure has been distorted. And often, our usual gauges for success have been replaced with ones that don’t mean so much to us.
But social media only gives you a snapshot of how other people want their lives to look, not necessarily an accurate portrayal of it. It’s rare to see someone actually talking about their latest failure, yet so many people are failing every day. And that isn’t a bad thing! Even Einstein valued every failure he had. So, what benefits can failure bring?
Your failures help give you direction
Failure helps give you direction and purpose, keeping you on the right path. The failures you experience can often highlight those things you aren’t good at or don’t really want to be doing.
With reflection and analysis, you may realise you weren’t putting your all into something, as you didn’t really believe (or want) to achieve it. You may not be honouring your own business boundaries or focusing on the right things in your business, and often, these can lead us to feel like we’ve failed.
Failure helps you improve and grow
Failure is actually a sign of a growth mindset. Your failures show what you need to do to reach your next level of growth. They help spur you on to try again and experiment with new methods and ways of doing things.
And you may just realise that the reason why you’re not succeeding is simply that you’re holding your own business back. If you’re scared to fail, you’re usually afraid to try new things in the first place. Your lack of self-belief may be keeping you from making that leap your business needs to get to the next level. That can be a hard pill to swallow, but it provides you with a great learning experience!
Redefine your definition of failure
As children, we’re often bought up to celebrate our successes and fear failure. Failure feels uncomfortable, and the labels people give us change, depending on how well we do. We’re seen as clever or stupid, right or wrong, successful or unsuccessful. But the results you get should never define who you are – your mistakes and failures are simply stopping points along the way. As Einstein once said, failure is success in progress. A man who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
But as adults, you need to redefine those childhood definitions of failure. It doesn’t mean you’re no good, your methods don’t work, or your business is doomed. It’s simply a way of narrowing down your options and finding what works best for you. Because when you change how you view failure and start seeing it as a good thing, you can drop the fears around it and start moving towards those levels of success you know you can achieve.
If you’re ready to step up and learn from your failures so you can make an impact, grow your team and scale your business, why not reach out? Here at Virtual Hand, we help busy, ambitious business owners find time and get stuff done, so they can share their gifts with more clients and have more time off. You can find out more about our services here. Ready to take the next step and discuss which options are suitable for you? Reach out via our contact form here, and let’s talk!
