Setback - Failure - Or...

It's been a difficult month for me, business-wise, as you may have noticed. Someone asked me how do I tell people around me that I failed at something I planned.  Fail?  I didn't fail!  I was positive, right? I didn't cry and whine [too much], right?  And... I tried. Since when is trying, and I do mean trying HARD a failure?

When you come to something that doesn't work, try, try again. And then try something else. You keep trying until you get it right or find a much better solution.

I won't go into what I most failed doing this month, but I can safely say it will be short-lived, and next month, I'll share what successes my failure brought me. 

Which, of course, makes it NOT a failure. What's a failure anyway?

For me, not writing is always a failure, my solution is to clean, and it works because everyone at home is happy and I love it because when the inspiration does or does not start and I write, I don't have a pile of dishes, a streak of dirt, or stinky laundry distracting me. 

But that is not a success story, not really.  

What if... I didn't write and things got in the way, and one day, while procrastinating and pretending like going on a cleaning binge is a positive alternative, a piece of glass cut deep into my foot?  What if I had to go to Urgent Care? What if the doctor there was a jerk and I asked to sit in the waiting room, waste more time, until there's a more competent doctor? What if the doctor came out, apologized, and I reluctantly agreed to go back?  What if... he said he was very sorry and normally there's no excuse, but this one time, he learned his brother's wife went out last night and didn't come home and what if the same doctor continued - gasp! (yes, even doctors give out strange and personal information at the oddest times) - and said "I just want to know where he hid the body. My own brother!"

I'm a true crime writer, as my kids say.  Yes, things like that happen all the time.  I'm not saying this is great to exploit him, I write for FREE!  I want to HELP. Yet, I admit, if the brother is guilty and his own brother had a feeling, and I learn about it first hand and before the police hear about, you betcha I'll be excited.  Don't judge me, it's natural, the stuff pumping through our vein!

That's one of those accidental success stories. They happen all the time.  For instance, why do you think Colonel Sander's picture is him of an OLD man?  Not only did he receive a thousand rejections for his chicken recipe before striking gold, but he also failed at pretty much everything he ever tried, including his short-lived attempt at kidnapping.  Through much more than I write here, he managed to succeed and indeed, his success outlived him.

Next time you fail at a goal you set for yourself, remember, it's only a moment and it will pass.

Check out these other famous business failures.