You Failed ... Well Done!

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." ~Thomas Edison

Each summer, I'll spent an afternoon down on the beach with my son watching a local Skim Boarding competition (think a cross between skateboarding and surfing in one or two inches of water). It's always  incredible to see the athleticism in those taking part, and the tricks that they are able to pull off! The other bit that makes this competition great are some of the spills these guys take ... check out a couple of pictures I've taken:

Ouch!  These guys failed at the tricks they were attempting to pull off and the result was painful. Yet, despite the failure, the next moment they are "walking it off" and heading back to the line-up of competitors waiting for their next attempt at nailing it. Incredible!

I've been reading and thinking a bunch on the topic of failure. It's something that we all do from time to time (and some of us are better at it than others), but I've discovered that there is a proper way to fail ... it's actually something that you can get good at!! But don't tell anyone you are training to be a "good" failure, because people don't want to talk about it.

Here's what Mike Foster (founder of People of the Second Chance) said in a recent article he wrote on the subject:

We are not OK with failure. I’ve never seen a CEO’s bio proclaiming the projects that went belly up. I won’t log onto your website today and hear about your underperforming men’s ministries or how last weekend’s services were completely average. I often tease a pastor friend of mine that I’ve never seen a Tweet that doesn’t describe every event at his church as “AMAZING!!!”

It's true, failure may not be something we're proud of (unless there is a book-deal in it) but it is something that can provide a doorway to success. When I say that we can learn to fail well, I simply mean that we can see every failure as a chance to learn and come back stronger than before.

Here are a few truths about failure you'll need to know to turn it into a success (eventually):

• If you are going to fail (or succeed), RISK is a necessary ingredient ... if you don't attempt it, you'll not achieve either of them
• When you fail you learn WHAT NOT TO DO next time ... that type of information is invaluable
• Failure can lead to time out from a task (due to injury, penalty, or opportunity) ... use this priceless time to REFLECT and PLAN for the next attempt
• Failure is generally due to either a single event done incorrectly, or a series of events that caused problems ... if you can ISOLATE AND CHANGE you'll be a step closer to nailing it
• Someone else has always failed bigger and better than you, so find them a LEARN FROM THOSE WHO WENT BEFORE

So go fail ... it could be the biggest step toward success you've ever made ... look what happened for this guy!