She says that if you're not failing you're not trying or putting yourself out there enough. I wonder if I am failing or just not trying hard enough. I know a lot of people don't know what I do, I don't put it out there at all really. That is something to think about.
Failures are just opportunity repackaged. I love that quote.
Secret Sauce Writing Exercise
- What "failures" opened up opportunities for you?
By having to quit school I began my journey towards discovering myself and moving towards what I really need to be doing with my life.
- Which setbacks are you actually grateful for?
I'm grateful that I didn't start my businesses sooner as I'd wanted to because I believe I can do them more justice now. I not only have room for them in my life, but I'm also in a better mental and emotional state to handle them and be successful.
- How might you rewrite your setbacks so you can see them as successes?
In waiting until I had a chance to mature more I have set myself up for success in my businesses.
In taking a break from school I was able to re-evaluate what I really wanted to go to school for.
- How might you stretch yourself and risk failure in order to grow?
I need to really put my businesses out there. I need to act as though I'm proud of what I do and share it. If someone doesn't want to hear about it that's okay, but I can at least put it out there once. It could get me business in the long run!
- What can you do to make peace with failure? How might you even make failure fun?
Initially I don't really have an answer to this. Perhaps I need to redefine what success means to me, realize that to define myself in too specific a term negates me succeeding and realize how I have contributed and self-sabotaged myself. I need to enjoy the extra time I'm given to devote to other things as I wouldn't be able to if I had "succeeded" in my original plan.
- How do you define success?
Success is making "lots" of money - some given amount. Selling everything I make when I make it.
- How might you redefine it?
Success is giving it my all, trying, and putting real effort out there. It is making my businesses known and getting positive interest and feedback. Success is the creative flowering of ideas and following through and finishing projects. Trying and developing new things whether they work or not.
- What would success FEEL like?
I would feel happy and satisfied everyday. I would feel that no matter how much I got done I accomplished something.
- How will you know when you achieve it?
I'll be able to really "feel" it. People who don't know me (and those who do) will be able to see it without me telling them about it.
I definitely see that I was holding limiting beliefs about what success was. Being vague and expecting it to equate to strictly "some sum of money" was not and will not serve me. I like her idea of success being inner peace, that happiness at the end of the day is what success is really about. Definitely want to adopt that mindset!
Reading the article about how not getting something sometimes is just what you need (to get something better) I have to agree. As hard as it is that I have the debt I have for going to college and dropping out, it ultimately led to me finding and embracing my path.
Finishing up the last three articles about mistakes and realizing that a mistake isn't the end of the world but merely a miniature path to growth. As they say, mistakes show you were you are and how far you've come. But they also put reality back into the experience. We all have days or periods of time where we are off and things don't go just right - but these times balance out those other times when everything seems perfect. In short it gives you much needed perspective.
The final article urges you to cheer yourself up when you need it. For me I think window shopping and getting out of the house, spending time by myself or with friends is integral to me unwinding. Those are the times where I am not performing so there is no place for failure because I'm just existing. Those times allow me to just be. I might also say that sometimes creating my art helps but only if the perfectionist monster doesn't come to town...
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