The Real Failure in Failing

I spent the morning reading Colin Wright's new book, Act Accordingly.  It was a nice morning.  There I sat in my favorite coffee shop (which, by the way, I find myself in more often than not) drinking coffee and reading this book.  The fact is that I spend a fair amount of time in that same coffee shop reading, writing, thinking and planning.  The common topic is my life, or more specifically rebuilding my life.

I tend to be drawn to writings about failure and using it as a learning tool.  I have failed in my life.  I've had the occasional "whoops" failures and mistakes, and I've had a "what the f--k were you thinking" failure.  The latter is the impetus for the hours spent in the coffee shop.

Chapter 4 of Colin's book -- Let's Fail Until We Don't --  addresses this.  As I read through the chapter I came across one line that struck me.  Colin wrote, "Of course, it's easier to theorize about challenges being useful than actually going out and finding, facing and overcoming them."  There I sit, hour upon hour, thinking and writing and planning.  There I sit.  It is much easier to think and plan than it is to do.  I can romanticize some great rebirth or reincarnation like a Phoenix rising from the ashes.  I can control that part.  Even as I write this, I realize that this is a spin-off of the Action post I wrote a few months back.

"Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tip toe if you must, but take the step."

I realize perhaps I tend over-analyze.  There are a million reasons it might not be the right time to act, and I think I try to find them all.  But really, if we fail somehow in our lives the only real failure exists if we fail to get back up.  That takes action.  As the quote above reminds us, just take that first step.  Rebuilding from failure is all about the transition.  It's a more involved process, of course, but the crux of the process is transitioning from thinking and planning to doing.

What barriers keep us from taking that step?  I could list several but they would all be external influences and, in reality, not barriers at all.  The only true barrier that prevents us from acting is ourselves.  We find excuses based on embarrassment or shame, fear of further failure, or even a lack of confidence.  The antidote attribute is resilience.  Resilience is the effort it takes to take that step.  It is the effort to hold our head up again and stand tall.  Resilience is the effort to keep chasing your dreams.  Resilience is that little voice in your head saying, "Don't give up no matter how hard you fell."

"It is important to stand up again post-failure.  Our dreams and goals are only visible on the horizon when we stand tall with our head high." ~ Jason Huntsinger