Failure is not fun, but if you turn it into a learning experience, you might even think it was worth it.
I was to be running an event this past weekend called Launch 1.0. A one-day boot camp / workshop for anyone interested in launching their own business. I really thought it was a great idea.
Canceling it really hurt both financially and emotionally. This one was definitely a difficulty fail.
But now that the date has passed, I can start to move on. The most important part of failing for any of us is learning from that failure and applying the lessons learned going forward.
I must admit it all sounds very easy, but it isn’t. Some of us have egos that find any failure difficult to take. Some of us are worried about what people around us would think when they hear the failure. And still others are concerned about the effect it will have on the people involved.
I went through all of these emotions when I decided, with the help of my wife Karen, to cancel the event. My ego definitely took a hit. For a short time, I was worried about what others would think and I was definitely concerned about the commitment I had made to others for the event.
I see four phases to this journey I have been through, and that I’m still going through.
1 – Going through the research, consultation and thought process that it takes to be able to make an informed and professional decision like this. Once I realized the registrations were not happening for me, I had to get very serious about the logical approach to the go/no go decision.
2 – Making the decision. As gut wrenching as it was, eventually you have to suck it up and call it.
3 – Getting over it. There definitely is a mourning period. For some it might be days and others might be hours or even just minutes, but it is a hump you have to get over.
4 – Learning from the journey. Now the clouds part, the mourning is over and it is time to get on with it.
That last piece is the most important. It’s the learning from the experience that can turn this experience from a negative to a really good positive.
- What were the assumptions you made in the beginning that turned out to be wrong?
- Did you really understand the market?
- Did you have a really good grasp on your product?
- Was your timing right?
- and this list goes on.
For me, I came away with a few really important lessons learned that I will be able to apply in everything I do going forward.
Failure is not fun, but if you turn it into a learning experience, you might even think it was worth it.
