This week is all about embracing failure…

Failure on some level is inevitable if you are putting yourself out there, taking risks and trying new things - all integral parts of running a successful creative business. Learning how to cope with failure and even to embrace it can make your journey as a creative entrepreneur easier and more rewarding and will ultimately make you more successful.

What is failure?

Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. Wikipedia

There are plenty of ways to fail -  having a bad idea, not executing well, not having the courage to change or adapt, not building the right team, making bad decisions or not even trying. There are also the more tangible ways that we fail that are largely defined by society, such as losing your livelihood.

Failure in Business

Failure in business can be short-term failures such as making a mistake when pricing a project, forgetting to follow up with a client, sending an email to the wrong person or not properly checking a piece of work before handing it to a client. Or failure can be more significant for example if you come to realise your business idea isn’t going to work or you aren’t the right person to drive it forward and you decide to call it a day. These long term failures have a much greater impact on our livelihoods and creative and mental wellbeing. It’s important in business to learn to embrace both types of failure and use them as learning opportunities. 

Embracing Failure

We learn from an early age that failure is bad, leading many people to become scared of failure and scared to put themselves out there and try. It’s normal when we fail or suffer setbacks to not feel good about ourselves and in turn become less confident, more risk averse and fearful of failure. This fear of failure will however hold you back from achieving your dreams and successfully running your own creative business. Embracing failure allows you to move past the negatives and change your mindset and use it as a positive learning tool.

You can embrace failure in a positive or negative way. Defining yourself as a failure is negative. It gives you a way out of even trying and can lead to other negative thoughts, actions and outcomes. Embracing failure positively means admitting and accepting your failures and reflecting on them and learning from them. Below are some points on learning to accept and even embrace failure to help you successfully start and grow your creative business

• Accept that failure is inevitable 

It is impossible to get everything right all the time, especially when taking risks and trying new things. You will inevitably make mistakes and experience setbacks and failure. Every action you take in your business is based on a judgement call, made based on the variables at that point in time. All you can do is make the best decision possible with the information you have at that time. 

• Admit to failure

Admitting to failure is difficult as it makes us feel vulnerable. Saying “I failed” means opening yourself up to criticism. It may also mean giving up on a goal or a dream and /or letting down family, friends and colleagues. However if you can find the courage to admit to failure it can be a liberating experience.

• Reframe failures as learning experiences and setbacks

Reframe failures using positive language to change your perspective on them, instead call them learning experiences or setbacks. You can also use this technique for any individual failures, by writing them out as you initially think of them, then reframing them using positive language changing how you feel about them and their impact on your mindset and actions.

• Take time to reflect and learn 

Failure is very personal, each person has their own idea of success and failure. However you see failure, when you lose you will need time and space to put it into proper perspective. As well as accepting failure it is also important to use past failures to help you identify how to avoid it in the future.

• Don’t let failure define you

Don’t let failure define you. Defining yourself as a failure is negative. It gives you a way out of even trying and can lead to other negative thoughts, actions and outcomes. 

• Know that you tried

The fact that you tried is important. Many people never have the courage to even try. Celebrate the fact that you made an effort and tried something. Maybe you failed today. But you definitely learned something that will prepare you for success tomorrow.

• Don’t compare yourself to others

Remember that you are further today than yesterday, you have built your skills and expanded your knowledge and experiences. Don’t compare yourself and your journey and perceived failures with others.

• Understand that some things are out of your control

In most failures there are factors outside your control. Don’t dwell on things outside your control, instead focus on what you can control moving forward.

• Move on

After taking some time for reflection and learning, put your failure to one side and move on. The only way to build confidence is by successful action. To rebuild your confidence after failure you need to push yourself to get back into action mode and moving forward.

• It will get easier

When you are starting out you will have less experience on which to base your decisions so failure will be more frequent. It’s important to remember though that it is only through action that you can learn and improve. As long as you reflect on your mistakes and any setbacks you suffer as your business grows you will start to experience more successes than failures

Some of the Benefits of Embracing Failure

Once you have embraced failure you will no longer fear it. Some of the other benefits of embracing failure are:

• Humility - failing at things reminds us that we are human and can remind us to be humble, kind and have empathy for others. 

• Learning - it’s only through doing and sometimes failing we can truly learn. 

• Inspiration - reflecting on failure can offer some of the best inspiration and motivation

• Growth - once we have learnt that it is possible to experience failure and survive, it encourages us to take more risks and adopt a growth mindset.

• Appreciation -  achieving success after failure makes us appreciate it all the more.

It’s good to hold ourselves accountable and learn from our failures, without defining ourselves as a failure and adopting a negative mindset. This exercise will help you to objectively reflect on and accept your failures and rebuild your confidence ready to try again.

week 27 book

Our book inspiration this week is Fueled by Failure, by entrepreneur and philanthropist Jeremy Bloom shows readers how rebound and reprogram themselves after defeat and how to use the lessons from those failures to achieve winning results. Jeremy explains why acknowledging and accepting your failures can make you a stronger and more successful business owner.