6 beautiful lessons I’ve learned from failing

By Gina Best

Failing is part of life and let me tell you it sometimes feels like that’s all there is but that’s not true. Failing is a huge part of life and it is there for a purpose, so we can learn from our mistakes. Mind you sometimes we should repeat the same mistake more than once to finally get it. 

Let’s talk about some of mine, maybe you can avoid them. (They are not in any kind of order).

1. I once made a new cover for my sofa, I used a beautiful dark indigo denim.  Then I broke my tailbone.  It was August, it was hot and I couldn’t sit down only lay down.  I was blue from head to toe.  My failure: I was in such a hurry I didn’t wash the fabric before I made it. My lesson: Don’t cut corners – so not worth it, (it took me a week to get the dye off.
2. Quotes came in for a website, one was significantly cheaper. My failure: I went with the cheap one and let me tell you, you get what you pay for.  I ended up paying for the site twice.  My lesson: Do your research, it’s cheap for a reason.
3. I got complacent; business was good. My failure: I decided to save some money, so I stopped marketing.  Before I knew it new business dried up.  My lesson: Never take your foot of the gas, not ever!
4. I did business with a friend, and it was a nightmare.  My failure: I didn’t talk to her about it.  I let it fester till it became a huge issue.  My lesson: Put my big girl panties on and talk to the person involved.  Don’t let it fester, it just eats away at you.
5. I didn’t get the results I wanted with a project I was working on with a referral partner.  My failure:  I didn’t tell them what the outcome I wanted was. My lesson:  It is my responsibility to communicate what I need and expect.  People are not mind readers.
6. I partnered up with some colleagues to work on an event.  My failure:  I ended up doing all the work myself and was really pissed off with them.  When I finally asked them about it they told me that they didn’t want to do it but couldn’t say no to me.  My lesson:  Ask people to see if they want to be involved, let them make a choice.  Don’t just tell them. 

This is just 6 of the many, many failures I have had and even thought I don’t really like to fail I don’t hate it like I once did.  Ever failure teaches me something. 

So remember that the next time you fall on your face. Get up, dust off and keep moving forward. If you need any support in finding the lesson in failing reach out to me at gina@gina.best