Failure for growth - Stepping into success
We hear a lot about having a growth mindset; it’s not something that happens overnight and you certainly don’t get taught how to have it at school or university! There you are taught to strive for excellence and perfection. But what actually is a growth mindset and what does it have to do with failure? The simple answer is, it’s a way of thinking, to be open to seeing that there are learnings in all parts of your life.
Think about when a baby is learning how to walk. When it stumbles, it’s not considered a failure, but a stepping stone towards mastering a new core skill and a move towards success. But learning to walk takes hours of repeated practice, resilience and perseverance. You actually have to stumble to build the muscle required to walk and run. Falling over is part of the process of walking and failure is a necessary part of success. Trying another step every day is actually a simple habit forming process.
My previous blog mentions the importance of habit forming and this is another one of those examples where you can take time to reflect on your failures and look at the lessons you can learn from them.
How can you do this?
I want you to take a moment, grab some paper and draw a line down the middle. On the left I’d like you to write down three instances where you feel you have failed, something didn’t quite go to plan or just didn’t work.
I know this can be hard to do as you often want to forget about these times and move on to the next thing but what about if you flipped this mindset and thought about failure as an opportunity? Every time you fail, it’s an opportunity to reflect, learn and grow.
Then on the right-hand side i’d like you to jot down either what you have learned from this failure or how you can turn this experience into a positive.
Here’s an example…
3 instances of failure
You didn’t get the job or promotion you wanted.
You didn’t make the sales you wanted.
You didn’t lose the weight you wanted.
On the other side of the paper, write down what you did well towards that goal, what you think you didn’t do well and what you would do differently next time.
For example
Had a conversation with potential client but they didn’t sign up.
What worked - They were interested and enthusiastic about my services. I was confident about my service.
What didn’t work - I found it difficult to answer the questions about the price and put off the conversation. I worried that I would get the pricing wrong and put them off.
What would I do differently - Decide my pricing ahead of time. Practice that conversation in advance. Get some help practising how to be confident about my service and pricing.
Why is this important?
If you try and build this into your daily/ weekly/ or even monthly routine, you will find that after doing this 3-4 times, that your mindset starts to shift. You become more positive, optimistic and hopeful for the future. It can lead you to look at life in a different way or take your business in a different direction.
Anyone can do this exercise and it isn’t limited to just your business, you can also think about this as part of your personal development.
Try it and if you’d like to run through the exercise together, just book a free consultation with me. I’m here to support you to reach your goals.
Love Denise
