LIFE AFTER FAILURE
Wins are always the goal. You’re going to win at something this year but there is also failure. We will all fail at something. You’re going to fail at something this year whether it’s big or small. It’s important that what we do after failure is putting us on the best path to bounce back. Here are some things to consider after failing at anything.
What are the people involved roles? What part did they play? What did you learn about yourself and everyone else involved? The humanity aspect of failure is very key because it will help you tap in the different emotions of the process. Emotions can affect what we do positively and negatively.
How was motivation used in the process? Did motivation blind you because you had too much of it. Did you have too little of it? Motivation is something that can’t stand on it’s own so there are cases where some people will nothing but motivation but no plan, no practicality, no focus or organization. Motivation will always require assistance. Where did the motivation come from? What were you feeling when the motivation first struck?
What were your expectations? What really happened during the process and at the end? What did you expect to happen? What did you expect to happen but didn’t? What was something that amazed you? Some people do not like to have expectations because they do not want any attachment to the end result and just want to focus on the process. They’re not wrong but it goes back to the human element where you expectations are a normal thing to think about. People expect to win or do a great job. I would just say not to obsess over expectations and just curb those expectations into your effort.
How was everything planned? Did you over plan? Did you not plan enough? Were there deadlines set? What was the time element? How much time was spent on the right things versus time spent on the wrong things? Did you document while you were working? What can be improved in the planning for your next endeavor? Planning can seem tedious and just free styling things can be addictive from a creative standpoint especially if you succeed free styling ideas and it’s a success but eventually you’ll fail repeatedly and the free styling will not be as effective as it once was and planning will be the best course of action and always have been.
What was the most frustrating thing about the failure? Really be honest. For me personally when something doesn’t workout the way I thought it would the most frustrating part is me not focusing on the details and focusing on how it will be perceived. Not everything will be a home run and sometimes I forget to tell myself that. Figure out what’s most frustrating and think about the ways you can change that.
What were the things that went great? What went right? We tend to only focus on the fact that we failed, deem everything hopeless and just move on. You have to take the things you did right to the next journey. Don’t leave what went right with the failure. Those things can still be used in your next adventure. If you failed to build something you don’t leave the tools right? Those tools can still be utilized.
Do you know somebody that went through a similar failure? This is my favorite. I love hearing about my peers failure and telling them about my failures. This is the only part of networking that I’m really passionate about because I feel I learn how authentic a person can be with how they deal with failure. If they try to hide it then I believe that they’re very insecure and may have some inner issues they need to sort out. If they’re very open and honest about it that’s someone that do things for the right reasons. Always try to find someone who went through what you went through and learn from each other.
How was your consistency? Were you disciplined? This is the gas of whatever you start? Without them you’re riding on fumes and it won’t be long before you stall and stop.
If you’re not failing you’re not taking risks. Always keep testing and tinkering and when failure comes. Evaluate and prepare for the next risk.
Peace
