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While in a prolonged state of unemployment, I often find myself considering my many failures. As I grew tired of judging myself in this way and ruminating on my business flops, I decided to make a list. I took the time to write them down, instead of just having these vague ideas of failure circulating in my thoughts.
Before I was even finished listing them, it hit me that they weren’t failures after all. They were just activities that didn’t end with my wildest dreams coming true. Each “failure” was actually a success. Everything I had labeled a failure in my mind was actually a success on some level, and many continue to have positive ripple effects.
At the very least, I learned new skills, took risks, enjoyed the creative process, and met new people in every single venture. I’ve heard it said by many people that we are much more likely to regret the things we haven’t done as opposed to the things we did. Making a failure list helped me truly experience that truth.
Another major realization I had by taking the time to make a failure list was that it was much shorter than it seemed in my mind. This allowed me to see the benefits of my prior ventures as a children’s book author, screenwriter, nonfiction author, coach, teacher, speaker and more in a broader and more refreshing light. Sure, none of those ventures became a means of full-time employment, which is why I was labeling them as failures, but that is only one measure of success.
Every book I’ve written has great reviews and happy readers around the world. It even led me to teach self-publishing to other people and dozens of my students have become bestselling authors on Amazon themselves.
Coaching and Akashic Records Readings haven’t been able to replace my old corporate salary, but every client I’ve had received great insights and many took actions to improve their lives, relationships and more.
Even though I never became a full-time speaker, every audience that I’ve spoken to about suicide prevention and enjoying life instead of dreading it was impacted in ways I can’t measure.
My books, videos, and live presentations have resulted in many people telling me that I saved their life. I know that I didn’t save anyone, but I’m blessed to be the catalyst to someone saving themselves. My failure list helped me see the positive impact I’ve had on many people and to see that so many of my ventures continue to serve people.
I invite you to create a list of all your perceived failures and see if looking at them without judgment allows a new perspective. Can you see a list of risks taken, new things tried, or even some accomplishments? If you are willing, I bet you’ll see quite a number of successes.
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