The key to overcoming the “Fear of Failure” has been outlined in Part I & II of this series. This week we are going even deeper.

When people think of “failure” they think of loss, negation and lack.

What if you started thinking about what it can add, edify and enhance?

Who says just because you labeled something a “failure” someone else wouldn’t rejoice in it? Maybe you’ve been so stuck on things going a certain way, that you weren’t even able to see that you’ve created a NEW thing that not even YOU planned to create.

That’s why it’s important to put yourself out there anyway. Just because things don’t according to YOUR plan, doesn’t mean they aren’t in line with the Grand plan for you life.

That’s what I want to talk to you about today. Another hidden bonus that comes with what your perceived faliures.

You Never Know Where It Will Lead

What you deem a failure may be considered something great by someone else. For example, when a family member of mine lost her job I shouted for joy and congratulated her! “You’re Free! Congratulations!” I exclaimed. She didn’t see it as that at first, but slowly came around. The point being, she saw failure and I saw success. She was working in an office when she is really an actress and writer at heart. Humankind was missing out on her genius by keeping her cooped up at a desk making appointments.

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”

There are endless stories in history of when a failure turned out to be a success in disguise.

• Mrs. Wakefield, Owner of Toll House Inn, failed at making chocolate cookies, when she ran out of regular bakers chocolate and inserted semi-sweet chocolate in hopes it would have the same effect. It did not. Fail? Not really, it’s how we now enjoy chocolate chip cookies.

• When Frank Epperson failed to take his cup into the house that contained powdered soda, water and a stick on a cold San Francisco night, he may have gotten grounded, but we got Popsicles.

• When chemist Harry Coover and his research team set out to make clear plastic gun sights using the highly adhesive chemical cyanoacrylate, the failed. They were stuck with a finding a better solution and we were stuck with the product we now call “Super Glue”.

• Researcher Roy Plunkett failed to clean up his chemistry lab one night after playing with gases and returned one day to find a whitish wax that wasn’t what he was looking for. Fail for him, Win for those of us who benefit from Teflon today.

• While Chemist William Henry Perkin failed to produce a working malaria medicine in 1865, today we have him to thank for the color mauve.

The list goes on, but the point is, what you consider a failure really could be a gem. A business idea you think stinks, might be pure genius to someone else, so see it through!  Don’t be so short sighted, think about the universal effects of the situation you consider a failure. With a little reframing maybe you can start to see how your perceived “failure” actually produced something positive in your life and for those around you.

Your Turn:

• Give me an example how something didn’t turn out how you planned but ended up being something bigger and better than you could have ever imagined!

Share with me in the comments below.