failure

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In all honesty, I’ve been dealing with a few things. I’m on the same journey you are – to live a life of my own creation.  In my Joys of Failure workshop, I talk about making setbacks into speedbumps instead of mountains.  To do this takes constant attention to intention.

I consider myself fairly adept at overcoming setbacks, at staying focused and living my created life. I’m here to tell you sometimes it stinks! The upside of living your life you have created is that when things go great, you can take credit, celebrate and know you’re responsible. The downside is that when things go badly, you can take credit, celebrate and know you’re responsible.

Rediscover your rainbow

Rediscover your rainbow

Gone is someone or something else outside yourself to blame for the glitch. You have nothing but yourself there as the responsible party. This can make for a tough day, people. But all is not blackness or hopeless.  Because you created the bump, you control how soon you step over it.

A wise teacher I had back in the 80’s used to say to me:

“When you’re having a bad day, it usually because there’s a lesson there and you haven’t paid attention to something until it slaps you on the side of your head.”

She went on to tell me, and this is the most important part (Thank you, Ruth),

“You can’t go around it, you can’t go over it, sidestep it or ignore it – that just makes it worse.  You need to face it head on, go through it, experiencing all of it, the pain and the gain, until you figure out what you were supposed to learn from it.  Then it will settle down.”

My intention is to create a product (at this point, it’s my Oughta-Pilot(TM) program) that will change the way people live their lives so that they are happy, fulfilled and passionate. I choose to be happy, I choose to be financially stable, I choose passion. This week – not so much. So what’s the process for recovering the glow?

  1. Breathe
  2. Be with whatever is there to experience – whether it’s frustration, sadness, depression or whatever. There is something there for you to “get” and use to shore up the foundation for your power. The more you try to avoid the problem, the more insistent it becomes for you to acknowledge it.
  3. Journal/blog/talk about it to get at the burr that’s the irritation.  You may not be able to identify the issue until you say something to a trusted friend or write it down and there it is. But NO WHINING ALLOWED! Ask for support, get lots of hugs  and finally,
  4. Understand that this is only temporary and that, just like a cold or a virus, it will run its course and then be  over.

So, I will continue to work forward, recoup, regroup and recover very soon.  Once you know the process, it  takes a shorter and shorter time time to do it and the tendrils from the experience lose their hold much faster and just go away.

Ever wish you could have a “do over”? Think you’ll never amount to much considering what your life has been so far?

Today, you will learn just what true failure is, how to release guilt over perceived imperfections and not only accept your failures, but celebrate them and look forward to more! (Yes, you read correctly. You can and will celebrate your failures.)

I realize that I am now and continue to be an amazing failure!

  • I am a failure at being what other people think I should be.
    • Not being what other people think I should be has given me the freedom to explore my life and
      my opportunities in different, innovative ways.
  • I am a failure at thinking the way other people think I should think.
    • Not thinking the way other people think I should think has given me the freedom to explore
      self-education, alternative education and to have my education actually serve my needs.
  • I am a failure at looking the way other people think I should look.
    • Not looking the way other people think I should look as given me permission to be a unique
      individual with my own style and my own likes and dislikes.

And I couldn’t be happier.

Most of the dictionaries and 99% of society think of failure as a bad thing. I don’t happen to share their opinion. How could you possibly succeed if you don’t know how to fail? How would you recognize success, then? Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4-years-old and did not read until he was 7. His parents thought he was sub-normal,” and one of his teachers described him as “mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in foolish dreams.” He was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. He did eventually learn to speak and read. Even to do a little math.

Oprah Winfrey says she doesn’t believe in failure. She says, “It’s not failure if you enjoyed the process.”

Go try something you’ve never done before. Give yourself permission to fail. That way, you get a lot more joy when you succeed! After all, if you’ve never done it before, you have nothing to compare it to and you decide whether you’ve failed at all! Failure is all in YOUR mind. How many people do you know that blow off compliments saying that they could have done better and then list excuses? Especially when they’ve done something you are aching to just achieve a 10th of? It’s all relative and it’s all so very personal.
I give you permission (as if you need it) to go try something new this next week. Something you’ve never done before and know nothing about. Go ahead, have fun.
Here are some quick things to think about:

  • “Flops are a part of life’s menu and I’ve never been a girl to miss out on any of the courses.” ~Rosalind Russell
  • Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.” As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison replied, “Ididn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”
  • Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He was subsequently defeated in every election for publicoffice until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62. He later wrote, “Never give in, never give in,never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up.” (his capitals, mind you)

When you can learn to take a failure as only a bump in the road, not as a wall to stop you, then you can begin to celebrate them. If you wind up falling on your rear, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start again. Keeping your focus on your dream, your vision, living it, tasting it, immersing yourself in it 1000%, draws that dream to you.

#7 Failure Is Only A Word

What do you think failure is? Is it merely a bump in the road on the way to your success or is it a wall stopping you cold?

I’ve been seriously rethinking my views on just what failure is and is not. Just recently I realized that I am now and continue to be an amazing failure!

I am a failure at being what other people think I should be.

I am a failure at thinking the way other people think I should think.

I am a failure at looking the way other people think I should look.

And I couldn’t be happier.

Not being what other people think I should be has given me the freedom to explore my life and my opportunities in different, innovative ways.

Not thinking the way other people think I should think has given me the freedom to explore self-education, alternative education and to have my education actually serve my needs.

Not looking the way other people think I should look as given me permission to be a unique individual with my own style and my own likes and dislikes.

Most of the dictionaries and 99% of society think of failure as a bad thing. I don’t happen to share their opinion. How could you possibly succeed if you don’t know how to fail? How would you recognize success, then? Look at Thomas Edison – he failed 10,000 times to make a light bulb. When asked how he felt about so many failures, he said “I have not failed, I have simply found 10,000 ways not to make a light bulb.”.

Go try something you’ve never done before. Give yourself permission to fail. That way, you get a lot more joy when you succeed! After all, if you’ve never done it before, you have nothing to compare it to and you decide whether you’ve failed at all! Failure is all in YOUR mind. How many people do you know that blow off compliments saying that they could have done better and then list excuses? Especially when they’ve done something you are aching to just achieve a 10th of? It’s all relative and it’s all so very personal.

I give you permission (if you need it) to go try something new this next week. Something you’ve never done before and know nothing about. Go ahead, have fun.

#8 Money Is A Tool; Not An End Result

If you’re in business just for the money, I wish you good luck. How often have you met entrepreneurs who are just after the almighty dollar? When you have business dealings with those folks, are they pleasant? Do you feel served? Do you even remotely feel as if they are interested in why you’re doing business with them? Or is it just how you’re going to pay for what you need? I try to remember this in my dealings with people when money is tight and I “have” to make a certain amount to pay a bill or something. I have often noticed that when I set up my business with the mental thought that I need a certain amount from a show or a client, I never make it. When I honestly don’t give a flying aerobic romantic maneuver on a rotating pastry, I do fine.

Customers can smell it on you. The need, the stress. The desperation to make a buck. This is not the way you want to succeed.

It’s what you do with the money you make that’s important. What difference you can make in the world with it. Look at Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Donald Trump. Al Gore. They all made/make a lot of money, but once their living condition requirements are met, they begin looking at what they can do to improve those of others.

Money is energy. It’s a tool to use to leave a legacy. What will yours be?

Work well, play well, be well

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