When failure of Olympic proportions is a GOOD THING!
I’ve been a wee bit obsessed with the Olympics this week! Have you been watching? I sat down the other night and watched 2 hours of men’s canoe slalom!
Like all ‘sofa Olympians’ I was fully up to speed within 7 minutes and became very critical and hard to impress! “He’s rubbish – he touched the pole!”
Australia haven’t gotten off to the best start with the ol’ medals, particularly in the pool (we have very high expectations of our swimmers down here!). The hype surrounding the mens relay team lead by James Magnussen was HUGE and was all very anti-climactic when the mens relay team finished 4th.
They were a ‘sure thing’ to take the gold and were literally speechless after the race.
In an interview yesterday, James said, “I’ve learned more about myself in the last 2 days than I have in the last 20 years.” What a MASSIVE statement!
Yes, it would have been FAB for them to have won but…
Is there a bigger reward to be found in failure?
Today we look at failure as something negative. As a missed opportunity. Something we did wrong and to be embarrassed or ashamed about.
But the truth is, we learn so much more when we don’t get it 100%.
In my business, there have been A LOT of things I’ve ‘failed’ at. As business owners, we are often guilty of looking at other businesses through rose tinted glasses and think, “Wow, they’ve got it together! They’ve just started out and look how well they are doing! They’ve got like A MILLION people on their Facebook page!”
The truth is, they most likely haven’t just started out and have been at this game of creating their dream business and life for quite some time.
Buttercup Ink started in November 2009 as a wedding stationery studio and has gone through many evolutions. What has helped me has been to take time to reflect on the things that didn’t go exactly as planned. Figure out why. Be ok with it. And move on.
The reason these apparent ‘overnight successes’ are now stepping up and collecting the gold is that they have taken time to accept and learn from the ‘lesson’ and KEPT MOVING FORWARD.
Do you make the most out of your ‘failures’? Click to share on PINTEREST →
Let’s stop beating ourselves up over our failures and start welcoming the ‘lessons’ for what they really are. An opportunity to learn and grow and a step up the podium towards GOLD!
What ‘lesson’ have you received lately that you can start to look at in this way? I’d love to hear your ‘path to success’ stories in the comments below ↓
Vari x
3 Comments
Ainslie
03/08/2012Hi Vari,
Loving your blog posts over the last few weeks!
Like you, I am also a Sofa Olympian – and I feel I am totally up with anything to do with handball, water polo and archery! lol
Let me at it….maybe not gymnastics as I am not that flexible!
I think it is great that you have intertwined the Olympics, the perception of failure and business!
My sister and I are very fresh ‘entrepreneurs’ with our business only being official for about 2 months. The other day we had a bit of a downer as our product development is taking far longer than we had hoped and hence the feeling of failure started to creep in to our conversation and mood.
This was quickly turned around after we jotted down all the things we had learned (big and small) and all the wonderful people we have met since we decided to pursue our passion and start our own business.
Seeing it on paper and reminiscing instantly made us feel better and re-energised.
I guess the lesson we learned is like what you have said – there are no overnight successes….we just have to keep moving forward, stay positive, love learning and be appreciative as we continue on this journey!
Cheers,
Ainslie
Ursula
03/08/2012What a strong beautiful post! You are so right about the fact that failure is usually seen as negative – and JUST negative. I too have a hard time accepting – and not just accepting, but embracing – the fact that I have made mistakes and will make mistakes!
Thanks so much! To view it your way makes so much more sense – and gives you so much more power and courage!!!!
Loved it – thank you!
Ursula
Vari
06/08/2012Ursula – you’re so right! We have and always will make mistakes. We just need to remember to learn from them! I’m so happy that the post resonated with you.
Ainslie – the early days of a business are truly a roller coaster ride! You have to take full advantage of having a business partner and ensure that you pull each other out of the failure haze when needed! I’d love to hear more about your big venture! And YES – pen and paper – they are so often my therapists! Can’t beat a bit of ol’ school writing!
Vari x