Day 7: Failure is not the End

Challenges are inevitable in business. They say that those who really succeed are the ones who fail more than anyone else but keep getting back up and moving forward. We are taught to fear failure through our education system, the media, and the total environment really. In a survival system, failure is unacceptable because it means “the end.” And if we are honest with ourselves, the world is currently set up as a survival system. Some are in a position, due to money, that minor failures do not lead to immediate disaster, but for some, failure to earn a few dollars that day may mean they go to bed hungry. And a human being can only go to bed hungry so many times. Failure to survive means death, and we all fear dying. But by participating in this fear we never allow ourselves to really LIVE. Life is not about survival (in principle), but that is what we have allowed it to become. Imagine a world where survival was guaranteed. What would failure mean in that context? It would then simply not achieving the desired result, but it would not be life or death. Failure is part of any learning process, thus if we fear failure, we prevent ourselves from learning. Being open to learn from one’s experience is a key basic fundamental that one must constantly work on mastering as an entrepreneur. But, if we are participating in fear of failure, then we close ourselves to being open to learn. Thus our teachability drops and we find it very difficult to move forward, whether in business or in life more generally. So, we are presented with an interesting challenge, that we must not participate in fear of failure, and yet fear of failure is ingrained in us from a young age.

So, the choice is clear, we must either confront our fear or accept it and thus consign ourselves to a life of, well, failure. Isn’t that interesting? If we accept fear of failure (which we think will prevent us from failing) we ultimately fail. You might think, “But if we avoid failure then we survive, right?” No, because everyone dies. Isn’t that interesting? Our system is based on a constant focus on survival, and yet death is inevitable? Its really pretty insane when you think about it. What if we, for a moment, accepted the inevitability of our death, and despite that decided to LIVE in each moment regardless. Does the fact that you will die, mean that you should throw all principle out of the window and just fight for survival? It makes no sense and yet it’s what we do.

We fight each other for control of a reality that none of us can possible really own. We lie to ourselves and pretend that our accumulation of wealth and knowledge matters, when in fact all that matters is WHO WE ARE. Given a reality where so many suffer, as both a direct and indirect result of each of our individual actions, will we ignore the suffering and only seek our own (limited) happiness, or will we stand within the principle of doing what is best and thus DO our very best to stop the system of abuse that is causing the suffering? We must examine how we perpetuate it with our own actions, but not be so naive to think that by not participating we have had a lasting effect. The solution is not to stop participating in the system as an individual, it is to stop allowing yourself to be controlled and manipulated by a system that does not have everyone's best interest at heart, and to within that support others to wake up and to take responsibility for the system as a whole.

Do you think that if you decide to stand up for what is best that you will not be challenged? We live in a system that has absolute control over every aspect of our lives, so standing up and supporting others as oneself to do the same will not be an easy task. It will in fact be the greatest task that we could possibly conceive. It will take real creativity and courage. It will involve failing over and over and over until we are able to finally stand without wavering. The only thing we have to guide us in this is our principle, to do what is best, to the best of our ability. Our minds will play tricks, because they have been designed to do that. Our reasoning and our logic will not always be sound, because they have been designed to limit us. Our trust in ourselves will be constantly challenged. We will doubt ourselves at times. The most important thing is that we never give up. Giving up just means delaying the process, because eventually you will get tired of being stuck where you are and have to start again, but it will be harder, because you will have the memories of giving up on yourself. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many times you have failed. If you are breathing right now, then you have this moment to begin again. It doesn’t matter if your whole world is crashing down around you. Just breathe and let the dust settle. In the end the principle of what is best will stand. There can be nothing else.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to fear failure.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that failure is the end.

i forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to define failure as negative.

I forgive myself that I have not allowed myself to see the gift in failure, in that it provides me with the opportunity to become more specific in my application.

I forgive myself that I have judged others as failures.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to judge myself as a failure.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to wish failure on others out of jealousy over their success.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that success is not available for everyone and that I must compete with others to be successful.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to define success and failure as things that apply to me personally, not realizing that we all succeed or fail together, because we are all together, collectively one, and thus competition is pointless because there can be no winners ultimately.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to be manipulated, both by myself and through others as myself, through the words success and failure.

I commit myself to placing my focus on the success of all Life, which is to say that I commit myself to becoming the best that I can be and to supporting others to be their very best.

If you find this blog to be of value and support, share it with others. Follow this blog and check back often to walk with me on this journey. Feel free to reach out! Let’s move together as one until all are equal! Until next time, “All the Best!”