Fail Your Way To Success
One of the most rewarding outcomes of building a business was employing staff for the first time. They trusted me with their livelihoods and were excited to be part of something meaningful. I encouraged them to improve each day and was proud to watch them and my business grow.
Business, like nature, is cyclical. When the economy inevitably dipped, customers tightened their belts. We weren't in a position to ride out the coming storm. My hope and joy for a brighter future turned to trepidation as I watched our numbers dwindle, no matter what I did. Then, one day, I found myself sitting in front of each of my staff, handing them retrenchment letters with shaking hands.
I had promised them a stable income and career growth, an opportunity to provide for their families while making a positive difference. Yet, here I was, telling them that neither my business nor my credit card could afford to pay them any longer. I'll never forget that fateful day, watching hope drain from their faces as I explained the dire situation. One of them tearfully told me that it was OK and that I had done my best. I would have cried if I hadn't been so numb.
Life is full of difficult moments, but dealing with the consequences of this failure - my failure - was crushing.
When we think of failure, we often think of huge, scary events that resonate far and wide and come at a high cost, like shutting down a business into which we've sunk all our savings. The ones we think of less are micro-failures: minor lapses in habit or behaviour that occur more frequently. Like the day (or three) we didn't get up in the morning to work out because sleeping in felt better, or when we drank a glass of coke instead of hibiscus tea.
Failures of any size come with crucial lessons if we're open to learning them. Sleeping in, and then feeling bad about it, could lead to asking ourselves whether we value a healthy lifestyle. Shutting our business down and sending good people home in a poor economy can lead to taking a long, hard look at ourselves and our role in getting everyone into this situation. We can blame the rain, the environment, the economy, or many other variables. We have little to no control over those. Instead, we should take a good look at our habits and behaviours and ask ourselves if they support our goals. If not, we need to be willing to change.
Success and failure are opposite sides of the same coin. Failure is inevitable, as anyone who has ever attempted anything can attest. We must risk it to achieve anything, whether building a business or getting fit. We improve ourselves by adding layers upon layers of successes and failures throughout our lives, using the feedback loops provided to inform and guide us.
You and I will fail again, and this is fine. Failure is how we learn. Big or small, failure shows us the path to success.
Until next week,
Ric.