I used to call myself a failure, but now I refer to it as failing-forward and have separated the personal self-attack from this concept.

A random list of things I’ve dealt with during my years in business:

Three different websites, and hosts.

Two different scheduling systems.

Five different payment processing options.

Two Course delivery platforms.

Two newsletter delivery systems.

Several business coaches.

Several business coaching programs.

Countless business courses, classes, webinars, calls, events etc.

… and although I may not have gotten what I thought I *wanted* out of these things, I got exactly what I *needed*.

We need to normalize failing – forward.

It’s a good thing! It’s so good that I may want to come up with a word to replace failing – because none of these things were failures, nor do they define me specifically. Right now, and for the last little while – it’s simply the next best thought.

It’s the next best thought because I am not 100% to the point of calling it ‘succeeding-forward’.  That feels too far out of reach for me, as I’m sure it does for many folks.

Some things I have learned by failing-forward:

What I LOVE.

Who I enjoy learning from, and what styles work for my life and business.

Which platforms, software, and systems make sense for my business.

… and more.

I then take those teachings and offer my experiences in life and business, to others.

People who work with me have the opportunity to be mentored on the things I went through. I am able to share I did, what I learned and how I chose to move forward.

The other week I was chatting with a client who invests in life and business coaching with me. We were taking some time to discuss business things, and I shared this:

When we are baby entrepreneurs, in emotion, mindset and efforts, we are wearing diapers so that when we shit the bed, we still have a back up plan, or some protection in place.

As we mature with experience, energy and thought-work, we shit the bed less frequently. We may need to grab some overnight pull-ups to help us remember our self-learning from time to time – but we don’t go back to diapers, plastic covers and extra laundry loads.

We grow each time we put one foot in front of the other and greet the day.

In life, in business.

In being human.

A little more on persistence here in my blog – Commit to Persistence.

picture of person wearing a dress with bare feet walking on the ground
Keep taking steps through the mud. You’ll always get to where you’re going.