Failure

I. Hate. Failing.

With a background as an athlete in a team sport, letting myself down meant letting my team down, and I pushed myself daily so that didn't happen.

So when I don't hit my goals, I get really frustrated.

I feel like a failure.

And that feeling used to keep me down...stop me from going after what I want. It's really easy to say, "well, you failed this time so what makes you think you won't fail next time?"

....but what if you DON'T?

One thing I have learned over these past few months of diving into personal development is that failure is a GOOD THING!

Who'd have thought?! Am I crazy? Well, this is what I've learned:

Failure and success fall on a pendulum. You HAVE to have failure in order to have success. The bigger the fail, the bigger the success. So if you don't swing it FAR into the side of failure, you won't have as great a success as you want. If you just stay complacent and don't push that pendulum to the failure side, you have no hope of achieving great success.

It's not a quick fix either. You have to constantly work on your mindset in order to become a person strong enough to endure...strong enough to earn it. You have to continuously feed your mind with thoughts that let you know, "it's possible." Thoughts that help you grow. Thoughts that transform you into the person you want to be, who lives the life you want to live.

Tonight I learned that I am not going to hit my next BIG goal. Just now actually-- it's what prompted me to jump onto my computer and write this post! This goal doesn't just affect me...it affects my business therefore my family. It's really complicated so I won't get into it, but it is something I've been pushing for for a while now and have missed the deadline- again.

So. A few things happen when you realize that you're missing a huge goal.
1) You feel like a failure. Either in a good way or a bad way, for 2 minutes or 2 days...or as long as you allow the feeling to haunt you and, more importantly, control you.
2) You are forced to take a long, hard look at yourself. Did you really do everything in your power to make that goal a reality? Is there really anyone other than yourself to blame? Is there really any reason to be upset because you now realize that you didn't actually EARN it- you didn't actually put in the WORK it requires to achieve this goal? (If the answer is no, then you know what you must do next. If the answer is yes, then you have to have faith in the process and the path your life is taking...FAITH that what is happening and will happen is exactly what is meant to happen.)

So now you're faced with a choice. Dwell on it? Let it break you down? Let it hold you back? Let it stop you from pushing for that life you dream of-- those big, scary goals that you set for yourself, and maybe your family, too?
Or...
Do you use it as fuel to the fire that you have deep inside you to make that goal a reality? Do you use this as a motivator to work even harder for the next goal? Do you go THROUGH this failure in order to get to your success?

See, there's something you have to realize. NO ONE <<EVER>> achieved great success without going through failure first. Seriously. If you go talk to anyone who has reached success that you admire, I promise they'll tell you all about the failure and the pain and struggles they went through to get there. E V E R Y O N E who has big scary crazy "unrealistic" goals and dreams was faced at a crossroads and one time or another....or 50 times...or 193 times... Those who persevered and promised themselves that they would NEVER give up <<NO MATTER WHAT>> are the ones who you admire now.

Their reason WHY they wanted that success was far greater than any obstacle (ehm: failure) that stood in their way.

So when I think about things in that way, I realize:
I. Love. Failure.
It means I'm one step closer...and stronger than ever. (More on that later...)

So. What's your next move?