Why You Should Embrace Failure

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work".

                                      Thomas A. Edison

  I came across an email from  MUSE Storytelling a little while back discussing the topic of Failure and found it to be the most inspiring video I've seen in a long time and it spoke to my truth about failure.  

Why you should embrace failure

  The video in the email serves as a good reminder that failure isn't a bad thing, it should be welcomed, you should recognize it quickly and course correct fast.  Patrick from Muse Storytelling says that "it takes 9 failures to reach every success" and that you should "...see failure as a necessary part of success".    [bctt tweet="Look at failure as a necessary part of success" username="natoyaammon"]

  The truth is, I AM AFRAID of Failure. Failing is something that I work through constantly.  I am a perfectionist. And by definition a perfectionist is characterized by: a person's striving for flawlessness and setting high performance standards, accompanied by critical self-evaluations and concerns regarding others' evaluations. Which in a nut shell equals Fear! I prefer to do things right the first time.  I don't like to do things over and over again just to get it right.  Cooking for example comes to mind, new recipes kill me!!  I hate the way a new recipe never turns out right the first time.  You have to make it again and again inorder to tweek it to get the desired results...argh!! In many cases if I don't think I can do something or if I am not confident in what I am about to do, I either procrastinate for days on end or simply do nothing at all.  Actually to do nothing at all is really not that simple. Why? because the thought of not taking action on the task itself  tortures me for days and is always on my mind which leads me to feeling horrible about not taking action.  This feeling lasts until I either forget about everything totally or do it because it just has to get done and I have no other choice.   2016 was the year that I decided in the words of Susan Jeffers to "Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway".    I probably would be so much further ahead if it were not for my perfectionism and fears. I did conquered quite a bit though for 2016, for instance but not limited to: dealing with the illness of my dad and the changing family dynamics, dating and the biggest one of all buying my own house!! Going through the house buying process and getting the ball rolling by doing lots of research, answering lots of questions and providing tons of documents on top of the excessive amount of finger crossing and breath holding was scary and exhilarating at the same time.  I didn't know if we would get it or not.  The possibility of failure was so real and so present for weeks. Now all of the above mentioned areas had been plagued with some set backs and failure, please believe.  But some how I got through it and even had some successes.  So I guess it is possible to survive it all and come out the other end!  Perseverance and commitment was the key.  This year I am trying even harder to walk towards fear and failure and not run from it.  I've started with putting myself out there more on my blog, then I will go back to social media again and finally return to doing video which is the medium that I love so much.  After that, the sky is the limit!! The key thing to learn here is that we must change our attitude towards failure and look at it not as a "BAD" thing but as a "GOOD" thing.  It is OK to fail.  Don't avoid it, embrace it.   You know that it is will inevitably happen at some point, so what will you do when it happens?  What's your plan B, C or D?  Failure serves as a learning platform to help you grow and course correct so you improve and do things better and even faster next time.  The key is to quickly notice the failure  and ask yourself why did I fail?  What can I do to change the outcome next time?  and then take action to course correct and do things differently.   You might not believe this but there are benefits to Failure like: Failure means you have courage Failure makes you stronger Failure helps you learn Failure helps you grow Failure creates new opportunities Failure provides answers Failure gives you the best chance of success   Two of my favorite videos by Muse Storytelling and JK Rowlings talk about failure and why Failing is important to your success   Video:   Fail Often. Fail Faster.   [bctt tweet=" The iteration of your failure could lead to your success!!" username="natoyaammon"]     Video: J.K. Rollins' 2008 Harvard speech   Hope this helps to open your mind around Failure and how failure can work in your favor. What's the worst that could happen??  The iteration of your failure could lead to your success!! Over to you. When was the last time you failed? Let me know in the comments below.