We all are familiar with the famous Thomas Edison quote, " I have not failed, I just found 10,000 ways it won't work." This has been inspirational for so many throughout the years, yet I do not think many of us really sit and ponder the true struggle Edison went through. This brings me to today's discussion...in order to succeed you must see failure.
When I say failure I do not mean bankruptcy (but perhaps in some cases), but more failures throughout your life, career, and business that you have encountered. Unless you are Jesus I am sure that we have all seen failure in our lives and seeing failures in our business can be costly and disheartening. Just as coal comes under extreme pressure to become a valuable diamond, we can see overwhelming pressure and issues that force us to see our businesses in a new light.
To me personally, failure means you are at the point of change. Without failure it is difficult to grow your business into something that can last the test of time. I believe that entrepreneurs are more familiar with failure since running a business does not come with a manual and mistakes will be made. Those that are able to pick themselves up and move past failure are those that see success. Difficult times force change and it is up to you to embrace a learning experience or to reject it and stay stuck.
My own mini personally story of failure that is most relevant to where I am today dates back to my days of job hunting in Tulsa. I interviewed with almost every Tulsa Digital Agency and continued to hit my head against a wall in frustration. No one would hire me and that process led me to a dark place of feeling like a complete failure. Now years later I can look back at that experience and see how those hard times helped mold me into the business woman I am today. I could have chosen to be upset and stay in a state of depression, but instead I took the jobs I was not extremely passionate about because I knew I needed to grow and learn before I would see success down the road. The lessons I learned in those jobs I had before starting my company are now so precious to me because they taught me how to overcome adversity in the business world and how I wanted to run my company.
This year I want to be a place of encouragement and growth to embrace the journey of running a business and being open to the speed bumps along the way. Ultimately we are all on a path and it is up to you to pick yourself up when we stumble. We have the ability to choose to have a positive mindset and move forward.
Feel free to leave a comment below, tweet, Facebook, or message me with your story of failure and success in your business.