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We have been reviewing 7 Year-End Rituals in the most recent podcasts. We have reviewed Give Thanks In Writing, Declutter Your Brain, Dealing With Lingering Suckage, and Remind Yourself How Much You Have Learned. In this podcast I want to examine the idea of “Making Peace With Your Failures.”

Making Peace With Your Failures

While counting your blessings in various ways is a powerful way to end the year, it also helps to put to bed any conflicts and regrets you’ve racked up too. 

For instance, try forgiving an enemy. “Forgiveness doesn’t mean welcoming someone back into your life. It doesn’t even necessarily mean contacting them again. It just means making the conscious decision to let go of any anger, resentment and blame that you’ve been holding onto. It means accepting that we’re all fallible people, and allowing ourselves to head into the new year with peace in relation to that fact. Face your own failures from the previous year head on. “It’s tough to make it through the year without a single failure. But rather than dragging that beaten horse into the New Year alongside you, have the strength and the audacity before this year ends to let it go. To accept that you have failed. To let disappointment sink in, but also to revel in the freedom it allows you.” 

Why do you suppose that failure is so difficult for us to overcome? Perhaps we see failures as a sign of weakness, less than perfection, others may discover that we are not as great as we have portrayed. It is hard to pinpoint any one main thought to this question.

I would suggest that we see our failures as growth and something that is to actually be celebrated. Failure should be celebrated! We learn from our failures on what not to do or what does not work. Isn’t that better than attempting to hide or drag our failures around in shame?

Let’s take a quick look at 4 steps to overcome failures.

Graham Young, COO of an Investment Group, Graham, Theodor & Company suggests…

Accept Failure As Part of A Process

When times get tough, one of the most frustrating things we can hear from someone is to “stay positive.” The concept of positive thinking has been misused, misconstrued, and abused by us all.

Despite what we hear, it has nothing to do with smiling and being happy with everything that happens to you. Anyone who says that is either lying or crazy. Positive thinking, rather, is used so that we can learn, grow, and evolve from what we experience in life.

This does not mean try to fail. It simply means that if you are faced with a setback, understand it is not your final destination. It is a stepping-stone in your journey that is getting you to where you need to be.

When we do experience difficulties in life, it is okay to get down on ourselves. It is okay to get upset and disappointed. Our goal however is to not stay down.

Let Out Your Frustration

Once you have have taken some time to walk it off and clear your head, you can then begin accepting what happened. The initial emotional rush will eventually dissipate and you can then slowly return your focus back to the issue at hand.

This does not mean try to fail. It simply means that if you are faced with a setback, understand it is not your final destination. It is a stepping-stone in your journey that is getting you to where you need to be.

When we do experience difficulties in life, it is okay to get down on ourselves. It is okay to get upset and disappointed. Our goal however is to not stay down.

Be Brutally Honest

The most critical part of the process, which 90% of people don’t do, involves taking a couple of minutes to reflect on what happened and being brutally honest with ourselves on why it happened. It’s easy to turn on the TV, pull out the smartphone, or find some form of distraction. Most people will do anything to avoid confronting their own self with mistakes they’ve made.

Fail Forward

We can’t stop obstacles from appearing in life, but we can choose how to handle them. They may block our vision temporarily, but if we persevere then we can discover opportunities that have always been waiting for us on the other side. As we get more efficient with this process, we enable ourselves to see the positive side in even the toughest of situations.

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Music:  “Wishful Thinking” by Dan Lebowitz

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