“Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.” –  George Edward Woodberry

Are you letting failure or fear of failure derail your efforts toward achieving your goals? If so, you’re not alone. But that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.

It’s time to tell yourself, once and for all, that failure is not an option. Stop letting failure hold you back. It just takes an attitude adjustment.

Failure Is Not An Option

When we say that failure is not an option, what we mean is that you must not allow yourself to fall back on fear of failure as a reason to avoid trying.

You have no idea what you’re capable of until you try; whether it’s a new workout, a weight-loss plan, a career change, or anything else that scares you.

Failure Is Part Of The Process

The simple truth is, failure is inevitable if you want to stretch your wings and reach for your dreams, your goals. Finally have the life you want.

Think of a baby learning to walk. I love this analogy because it really puts things in perspective. Children aren’t born knowing how to walk. They’re not even born with the ability to crawl. It takes a while before they even so much as turn over, for goodness sake.

But barring a physical limitation of some sort, every baby progresses from turning over, to sitting up, to crawling, to walking.

All the way to running.

Did that baby try and fail? You bet! More than once? Yes, again.

Did he stop trying? No way. With determination and resolve, and a few bumps on the head and scraped knees, he learned to walk, then run. Failure simply was not an option. It wasn’t even on his radar.

Be that baby again. Everything in life worth having, is worth the effort. In fact, it’s that very effort that makes the realization of success so sweet. If reaching your goals were too easy, how boring would that be? There’s no fun in that.

The Invisible Ties That Hold You Back

At what point in life do we allow ourselves to stop trying? When do we begin to fear we’ll fail, and give up even trying?

Maybe the biggest question is why do babies lack that fear? And why do we, the supposed intelligent, rational adults, have it in spades?

Well, maybe it’s that same intelligence and perception that plants the seed of fear. We’ve seen what failure can look like, and we don’t want any part of it. So we remain stuck in the status quo, even though we long to fly.

But as soon as you understand that failure is just an inevitable part of the process, much like slices of bread are part of a sandwich, you can put it in perspective, and more importantly, rob it of its power to stop you. Because you know failure is just the road to success. Half the fun is figuring out how to overcome failure.

To overcome the fear of failure.

Take The First (Small) Step

Like Karen’s journey that began when she first considered starting a program like P90X3, you don’t have to do everything all at once. You can start small.

You can take baby steps that let you first test the waters before you learn to swim.

Each day represents another success. Each bit of progress, even small, is another step toward your goal.

Toward your success.

Don’t be like I once was and let a false belief that you might fail stop you from trying.

Instead, tell yourself it’s okay to fail. Good, even.

Any success that results from challenges courageously met and overcome is the sweetest success of all.

How do you approach the idea of failure? Does it scare you? Or do you see it as just part of the process toward reaching your goals? Let’s continue the conversation. Head on over to my Facebook page and leave me a comment. 

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Teri

ARNP, Holistic Health Coach. Surround yourself with people who believe in your dreams.

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