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July. It seems like a good time for reflecting. We're half way through the year and can look back at our New Years resolutions and see if we need to get re-engaged with our goals, or maybe even set bigger ones.
But I wanted to look back further than New Years. See, this past week, I reached the end of my day-planner and I always find it fun to look back and see what I was working on a year ago.
And man you guys... I have failed a LOT over the past 365 days. I mean, almost everything I was pouring my heart and soul into last year at this time turned out to be a big fat flop.
I spent 6 months tirelessly building Fit for Life Academy, my first ever online training program. I stayed up through all hours of the night, day in and day out, writing the curriculum, filming the videos, writing the sales funnels, creating the perfect sales page, planning the marketing.
Launch day finally came. It was a day I thought for sure was going to be a huge turning point in my life. And then... crickets.
Not a single freaking sale.
Then there was the YouTube channel I decided to start because "video is the marketing tool of the future!"
I painstakingly wrote out my scripts, tried to be the perfect bubbly host, create the perfect content for my audience, and build the perfect set up.
My best friend and I filmed frustrated take after frustrated take. A month later, I stopped filming after looking back at the dry, boring videos that were beginning to fill my channel.
I took my first go at running Facebook ads, with all the hope in the world that I just needed more eyes on my brand and my business, then I would have clients pouring in!
3 months and hundreds of dollars later... Nothing. Nada. Zip.
Last year at this time, I was also looking into starting a podcast since that seemed to be the next big thing in my industry. But I can't even call that a failure, because I never took the action to pursue it.
And these stories are only scratching the surface of the hours of blood, sweat, and tears I poured into my goals with virtually no return.
I know, right now you may be thinking, "Damn Kat, so much doom and gloom. And you call yourself a motivator??"
Bare with me. Because here's the key, here's the most important part of the story...
After every single failure, I immediately stood right back up to take another step forward. Not for one second did I let those set backs sink in as a reflection of who I was.
I was not a failure. I was a learner. And with every fall, I got a little stronger and a lot smarter, because I was choosing to define myself by my gumption and my grit, not by my immediate outcomes.
And you know what also happened this year??
I launched another very successful online training program that earned me 5 figures in one month. Did I mention it took less than half the time to plan, market, and sell it than Fit for Life Academy did?
I relaunched my YouTube Channel with way better feedback and satisfaction.
I've gotten better at speaking in front of the camera, and therefore, speaking to an audience, and booked my first public speaking gig.
I'm smack dab in the middle of editing my first podcast episodes that will be launching within the month.
And I created one training special that brought in tons of clients without spending a dime on Facebook ads.
I'm not saying all of this to brag. Honestly I'm still a long ways off from where I envision myself being.
But I'm sharing this to point out, what if I had quit after those initial failures?
What if I decided I wasn't good enough, or I wasn't cut out to do this job?
What if I had let those negative experiences define me?
I would have missed out on so many opportunities to change people's lives and improve people's health with my coaching programs.
I still wouldn't have an online business.
I still would feel shy and awkward about speaking.
And I would find myself stuck, living with my failures, but unable to overcome them had I chosen to walk away.
And unfortunately, that's what happens to so many of us.
We get knocked down, we get the wind knocked out of us, and we tell ourselves we're too weak to get back up. We tell ourselves we aren't good enough to be in the fight to begin with.
And that just isn't true.
We have to stop running from failure, and instead learn to dance with it.
And to help you do just that, I'm sharing...
Seriously. So often we want to make sure everything is perfect before we actually move forward, so we don't have to deal with the let down of failure. But the lessons those let downs bring are the only way we can achieve anything close to perfection.
So fail fast and fail often so you can evolve and improve as fast as you possibly can.
Also, when you force yourself to reach beyond your current abilities and fail with regularity, you begin to realize that failure won't kill you. Quite the contrary, you learn to freely accept it as the regular part of life that it is.
I'm sure you've been told to learn from your mistakes. But do you? Or are you too busy beating yourself up for them?
Next time you fall flat on your face, make yourself write down 3 things you learned from that experience and how you'll approach the challenge next time, but better.
We get so much anxiety about this nebulous idea of failure. But when you make it more concrete, it loses a lot of its power.
For example, I might find myself panicking about a talk I'm about to give. My hands may sweat, my heart may race, my legs may shake, but that's born of giving power to my fears.
But when I really force myself to go down the actual rabbit whole of the worst case scenario:
I suck at my speech, therefore I get laughed at, or boo'd, or I'm not asked to come back.
Then what?? My ego is bruised?? Okay. That's not the end of the world!!
Or say I forget my lines, and I have to read from my notes, therefore people will think I'm unprepared or unqualified to give the talk. And they don't want to hear me speak ever again.
Again, aaaaand??
These are not fatal experiences. They're a little embarrassing, maybe disappointing, but they aren't fatal to me or my career. That's maybe 20, 50, 100 people who aren't interested in me anymore. Oh freaking well!
You'll find the more you force yourself to do this, and go step by step through what will actually happen if you do in fact, fail miserably, it's never as bad as we make it out to be. And more often than not it's just our ego getting bruised.
So I want to challenge you, take your ego out of the game and aim for a year of failure.
Fail again and again at the goal that is nearest and dearest to your heart, and watch yourself get closer to that goal than you have ever been before.
Side bar: I can't mention the fear of failure without mentioning people-pleasing.
And if your fear of failure, deep down is the fear of judgement or the fear of disappointing others, I have to encourage you to download my free People-Pleaser Detox.
It's a simple tool to get your head in the game and out of their opinions. Good deal? Click here to download it now.
