Did you know that fear of failure is one of the main reasons people FAIL to start in the first place?

This is so sad to me. It means they’ve failed before giving themselves the chance to see if they could succeed.

Too many of us are stopped if we think we might fail. We see failure as a verdict on our abilities or, worse, a sign that we should abandon our dreams completely.

Here’s the problem. This perspective is fatally flawed. This is why I see failure not as a stopping point or a step backward but as feedback.

Or better yet, think of it as food for thought.

Elsie Lincoln Benedict talks about failure in her book How To Get Anything You Want. And what she said is so in line with my personal beliefs I want to share it with you:

"Extract the LESSON from your past experiences and then drop them. Use them just as you would food. Eat them, digest them while you go about your business; grow strong on them and face the future. We CAN grow strong on our very defeats and failures if we will but look upon them as so many school books which we had to master before we could be ready for the next higher grade. But we are through with them when the lesson is learned, and they should be discarded when they have served their purpose just as your old school books are.”

In other words, USE your failures to grow. And then, let them go.

If you see failure as a dead-end, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You Stop. You Fail.

If you dwell on your failures and replay in your mind over and over how terrible it was to miss the mark, to fall short, or to fumble the pass completely, then you get stuck in a downward spiral of negative thinking.

This serves no purpose other than to weigh you down.

If, on the other hand, you see failure as feedback…or a stepping stone on your path to success, then you’ve gained an invaluable lesson on what not to do. And this lesson will help you move forward without making the same mistake twice.  

So embrace your failures. Learn from them. Then move on and don’t look back.

If you internalize this, you become unstoppable.

Recognize failure as a course correct. A necessary part of the journey. Or the bump or bruise that makes victory that much sweeter in the end.

Setbacks are just growth opportunities. Failure is a chance to change your approach or sharpen your skills.

So the next time you stumble or miss the mark, analyze what went wrong and use the feedback. Failure is not a reflection of your worth; it’s a signpost along the road to success that will lead you to your desired outcome.

So, embrace failure. Learn from it. And then, let it go.

Today’s blog post was made possible thanks to my membership in Russell Brunson’s Secrets of Success Society. In the Society’s virtual vaults, I found the quote I referenced from Elsie Lincoln Benedict.

If you would like to know more about how some of the greatest thinkers of our time see the world and encourage others to achieve their dreams, please go to www.hillbookclub.com. Take a look around and see what Russell Brunson has created. I promise you won’t be disappointed.