Failure is curious word...

Failure is a curious word, and we attach curious meanings to it.

If I asked you share the story of a moment in your life that didn't go according to plan – something you might ungenerously call a 'failure'... someone else listening to that story may hear a completely different outcome to you.

Whilst you ponder what went wrong, they might notice the achievements and progress that you overlooked.

Why the difference of opinion?

As I have shared before, the relationship we each have with failure is exactly that – a choice... an opinion. An opinion that sits somewhere between two extremes:

• The facts – i.e. what just happened

• The emotions – i.e. how it made us feel

Whilst the facts leave us reflecting on our 'hiccup' as a teachable moment or a learning experience, the emotions can introduce an unhelpful narrative and whisper things in our ears like:

"Well, that didn't go very well, did it? And what must everyone who saw that think of you? Tell you what... best we don't do that again!"

Which can become our outcome. We do not do it again. We retreat back into the relative safety of our existing comfort zone and, perhaps, deny ourselves the opportunity to bravely step forward next time.

Emotions are not our enemy

Creative professionals in particular can find an ally in emotion. It fuels our adventurous minds and connects us passionately to our work. But emotion can blinker us to the skills, the experience, the capability (the facts) that we bring to each challenge, leaving us feeling more vulnerable than we need to.

Failure is a curious word...

We can turn that curiosity to our advantage (us creatives LOVE a bit of curiosity). What if you could change the narrative (the opinion) you have carried forward from the story you shared at the start of this article?

Better still, what if you were to shift the narrative that you might be projecting onto a failure that hasn't happened yet (a new pitch, project, presentation or performance)? And, as such, change the opinion you have historically held around failure to something more resilient, optimistic... evidence-based?

Lean into the skills, the experience and the capability that have carried us to where we're at right now...?

What difference would that make to your next brave step?

This shift is exactly what we what we tackle in 'Stop Being Stuck'. Take a look and, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch.