Outsmarting the Status Quo: Strategy #4-Getting Comfortable with Failure

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." - Robert Kennedy A novice talk show host gets his big break exclusive interview with one of the legends of rock and roll.  He takes a risk, jumps, and flops. We label him a failure. Where did this nonsense come from?  Failing, and learning from failure, is a great way to outsmart the status quo! Don't get me wrong, failing isn't fun, but learning from it and evolving with it is worth its weight in gold. Here's why: You'll take bigger risks. Bigger risks equals a bigger life.  That's the bottom-line! You'll be simply human.  We all know people who want to appear to have it all together. Well guess what?  Keeping up the pretense of being perfect is hard work!  Why not spend some of that energy becoming better at who you already are?  From this place, the status quo doesn't stand a chance! You'll become really comfortable with yourself. You'll begin to enjoy the negative and positive sides of being human. Instead of being self-critical, you'll become more curious. You'll evolve! You can't outsmart the status quo without evolving! Your potential for greatness will get clearer and clearer.   The hedgehog concept from the book Good to Great comes to mind. You'll have a deeper understanding of what you can be the best at.  You'll notice your strengths, you'll notice your weaknesses, and you'll use both in service of making a bigger impact. You'll make noticeable shifts in your being.  One of my former clients, despite her best efforts, failed at diet after diet.  Her chronic dieting was getting the best of her and she needed a shift quickly.  She decided to hire a life coach and was referred to me by a friend. During our work together she realized that shifting her being (her perspective around food), rather than shifting her doing (following a diet), was what created real change.  This shift made all the difference for her! You'll want to soak more and more out of future flops. In other words, each failure will increase in value as you begin to learn more and more each time. You'll care less and less about what other people think. And what a beautiful thing this is! Once you begin to accept your failures, the perception of others will lose its power.  Many times the status quo is defended by "what other people might say". I can't image where I would be without failing a few times.  Okay....it's actually been more than a few times!  But each one of my failures, big and small, has made me bolder, wiser and stronger. Collectively, my failures have created a container from which I continue to take risks, a huge value for me. So, go ahead. Do the thing that might result in a big fat flop! It will only mean you are living a full, rich and robust life. See you next week for strategy #5!

Comments

[Terri Holley]

Thanks, Shane! I will fix the link. You've got a great site. Thanks for stopping by The Health and Life Mixing Bowl!

[Shane]

Hey Terri,

Permission to fail is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves. I used to teach young kids before going into business. Little children have such a propensity to try and try again. After all, if we gave up every time we failed, we would all still be crawling.

Thanks for linking to our blog. I noticed that you are missing a / in the url: the proper one is:

http://blog.shaneandpeter.com/2007/07/02/good-to-great/