WHAT IS FAILURE?
Failure is a confusing beast in the world of entrepreneurship. It's an emotional word that means many different things to different people. It can mean defeat, rejection, lack of success, and disappointment. But to me failure was simply my way of trying to understand the world by understanding myself first.
It's impossible to work on your business if you're not emotionally healthy or taking care of yourself physically with proper diet and exercise so that you can be your absolute best self.
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Although it was difficult to say, I was failing at one of my businesses. This was something that eventually became clear to me when I started really paying attention to my health (my energy levels, physical fitness level and moods) in order to make adjustments and changes.
For example six months into running my current business I realized that it wasn't sustainable financially. The reason for this is because I had no idea how much time I should have been spending on the business versus time spent on my health. It wasn't until the pain got so bad that it caused me to take a three month break from working on the business that another light bulb went off and I realized how much time I had wasted being unproductive.
That was two years ago. Since then my mindset has changed, I took a vacation and became disciplined with my health and focus. I'm now extremely happy with my progress and will continue to reevaluate my progress on a monthly basis.
My advice is to always reevaluate your progress in life on a regular and consistent basis. Set some time aside every month where you can evaluate your life honestly, face the reality of what you've done and be completely honest with yourself about it. If things aren't working out, try something new or hold yourself accountable for what hasn't worked so far.
Often times we're so focused on our business that we can forget about taking care of ourselves emotionally or physically.This can lead to burnout, feelings of being overwhelmed and eventually quitting.
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Failure is simply a phenomenon that occurs when you are trying to achieve a goal. It's an opportunity to learn and grow and ultimately become a better version of yourself.
When I failed at my previous business it wasn't easy or fun but it definitely forced me to take a close look at what was really going on with me mentally and physically. That caused me to make adjustments in my life that made all the difference in the world for the business that I'm currently running today. Failure was the catalyst that made things happen for me personally so I could have success not just in my business but also in my life outside of it.
To me it was an opening of opportunity. My time as a failure taught me so much about myself that I could never have learned otherwise so I owe it to myself to learn from it.
How can you fail? It's simple, if you're not growing and learning then you're failing. How do you grow in your business (in any business) then? I'll tell you right now, through failure and growth!
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I don't think this is the most original or groundbreaking piece but I really believe that failure is something that everyone should be aware of. Possibly the most important factor in starting a business is knowing how to handle failure. Most people don't realize that it is an inevitable part of the process of starting a business, but if you fail to prepare yourself for when it happens then you're going to be in for a real shocker!
So many people are so scared of failure that they never really commit themselves one hundred percent and end up giving up before they ever have the chance. If we all understood that there was no way out but through, I think the world would be full of more successful people.
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In my opinion, failure creates opportunity. Learning from your mistakes gives you the chance to improve and adapt where necessary. Things are never easy and that's the beauty of this process. It's truly a great life lesson to learn and one I've certainly come to understand since starting my first business.
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The most important thing I've learned from failure is to never give up because every time I did a lot of hard work and as much as I tried, it just wasn't enough. You've got to keep at it until you succeed, or you won't ever succeed.
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I don't know anyone who isn't afraid of failure. It hurts to fail, it feels like you've been knocked down and you have no idea how to recover from it. But in my experience, failure is the best thing that could happen to you because it's how we become better people and make the kind of impact we want in this world. Some of the greatest people you can name failed more times than they succeeded, but that didn't stop them from achieving greatness. Think about these names: Albert Einstein, Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey just to name a few! They all failed for sure but every time something happened they were empowered by it. They didn't get frustrated, or give up, or stop trying and eventually they succeeded, which is something we should all learn from.
I think that if you fail a lot in your business you're going to have more opportunities than if you do it once and get the success. What I mean is that when most people fail it's over for them but when I fail and try again I become more determined, motivated and ready to succeed. Every time I fail something's learned and each time I learn it makes me a better entrepreneur.
It's kind of like losing weight, people are afraid of losing weight but they should be more afraid of stopping trying to lose weight. Because if you give up, you will just get bigger and bigger every time so it's important not to give up! So if you're still struggling after a few attempts then keep going because at the end you will get there! To keep going on that path make sure your business is in line with the right person or people who will make you shine in order to achieve the success that you deserve.
Conclusion
This is it folks! A bunch of interesting and insightful quotes, ideas, insights and observations that all pretty much sum up the initial situation of starting a business. Sometimes it's nice to have a few nuggets for inspiration.
As we can see even in the most successful people like Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates there were many times when they failed before achieving their greatness. This is to illustrate that weakness is something you should always prepare for but it should never weigh you down because there's always another opportunity around the corner.