Imagine running a business or having a relationship or pursuing a goal for 10 yrs and 9 of those years are great.
However, as years pass and things change, you find yourself at a point where you know it's time to make a change. You understand the time has come, and whatever this is has run its course. And you close up shop or decide it's time to embark on the next chapter of your life. The question I pose this: Is that business, relationship, or pursuit a failure or a success?
It's often very easy to look at the moment as a failure.
When my bike shop closed, and I walked away, this felt like a failure. I was 25, and a business I had started with some friends was done. I felt like a piece of shit who couldn't cut it.
However, as time has passed, I can reflect and look at all the things I learned during that time. I made mistakes. But repeating those mistakes is a real failure.
But logging a ton of useful experience of opening, managing, and operating a brick and mortar business that was struggling financially was a great learning experience. A business making a ton of money is easy to maintain. Until keeping up with the growth curve creates its own problems.
What I am saying is: it's easy to look at things as success or failures.
It's a matter of reframing failure and understanding that you're learning and gaining knowledge to make a better you in the future. That's the success. This requires having a different perspective, which has come with more experience and years under my feet.
I guess what I am rambling about is that all experiences have the potential to be valuable if you have the right perspective.
From now on, my recommendation is to ask yourself, "What did I learn?" "What were my mistakes?" "Where can I improve?" These are the questions I use with adventures, cycling, building my truck, etc. So why not have the same allowance for the rest of my pursuits and experience. They are all just things I have chosen to try in my life, some big and some small.
Many people want to try things or change direction in their lives but are scared of the unknown. It's easy to fall into the comfort of "The devil you know, is better than the one you don't." Well, I disagree. I suggest going for it. But understand your risk. And set expectations at learning as you go and setting small goals.
This shift in mindset is what allows you to get over that trap of avoiding possible failure. But if you're looking at all the things you can learn from the experience, there is always something gained from it.
Shift perspective to learning as much as you can from any experience.
Don't FEAR failure.
Learn how to fail.
Learn how to fail small, that allows you to dust yourself off, sidestep, and try again. Avoiding experience due to fear is the only failure I can think of.
Chase your goals.
You only get one run at life, but if you do it right, once is enough.
Enjoy the day, my friends.
