Photo Credit: theguardian.com
What threats do our failures make?
Our failures do not defeat us. They do not get us down and make us stay down unless we give them the permission to.
We’re our enemies. Or we could be our best friend.
The lie that often skips to our mind when we fail while creating, or we’re let down either by a friend, an acquaintance, or a situation, is to think why it had to happen to us. Why the situation chose us.
But why not us?
It’s interesting, but nothing works that’s not tested and fired up to find its strength.
And no artist can truly create without passing through the test of rejection.
- Our Best Comes When We Try…And Try Again
I sat to write this because I’ve lost so much. When a writer loses what he calls ‘his best works’ to a trite mistake, he refers to it as losing so much.
While I’m vexed enough to think I hadn’t taken proper precaution to secure the works, I’m quick to also remind myself of the danger of rigidity – I’m forced to ask myself, ‘what’s the lesson to learn?’
What’s the test of your strength? How do you ever know you’re called to create? And where did you get the idea that being a creative exempts you from hitting the rocks occasionally?
We, creatives and artists, will be sitting ducks should we believe the falsehood that a couple hitches wouldn’t plague us while we do the craft we love.
In times when we’re pushed to the wall however, when situations, critics, circumstances ask us to give the reason why we’re sold out to creating, we must be ready to give answers.
Either in words, or in actions, or in reactions.
And often, when we’re barraged by so much external forces that seem to want to choke our strength away, we’re expected to stay.
And try again.
- All That Failure Isn’t
Failure isn’t a foe to be despised. Nor is it a friend to be accommodated.
What it entails to create a product, a blog, a service, that gets the market and the audience to beat their path to our ‘doorstep’ is the same it entails to hang in there: refusing to wait for permission.
When all seem against us, the need to separate the most important from the unimportant stands clear. The most important being that no one will apologise to you for whatever is slapping you around.
No one will give you the permission you require. You’ve got to take it. [Tweet that]
In a world of easy connection and making friends quick, it behooves you, the creative, to best yourself, disbelieving the idea to expect that anyone will grant you the audience you need. Of course some do, only when they trust you.
Still, you’ve got to earn it. You’ve got to give yourself the permission to be yourself.
Failure isn’t final when you’ve got the right handle on it. And permission won’t come when you suck and hope that you’ll be apologised to and then be given platform.
You’ve got to:
•Make the most of failures. Think what lesson they’ll teach you. Losing some of new my works taught me to have a good rein on securing my works properly. Plus, it spurred me to write more and better.
•Share your hurts with your tribe. It could so hurt to bear the burden of a lost book deal alone. Make the best of it by sharing with your tribe or someone you trust to understand. It unburdens you, and you’re sure to feel relieved afterward. It’s the cliched ‘a problem shared is half solved’, and blah blah.
•Get to work, instead of moping. No matter how you feel to, don’t mope. Now that you’re going to make the most of the failure, think of new ways to do better. I’m determined now to write my best works yet. And to get them out to the world fast.
•Help another. Think what lesson you’ve learned and discover ways you can share with another (your tribe, especially) to help solve their problems too. It’s showing you care, truly care, that draws more audience to your network.
The opportunity to lead isn’t relegated to the ‘pros’. Everyone who has a tribe, every dreamer who intends to create must realise he’s planning to lead. Because he’s got a voice he wants others to listen to.
And if leaders are servants, then what creatives have got in their hands is the chance to serve. And great heroes who impacted on the world weren’t machoes who had no weaknesses. They were, in spite of their weaknesses, tenacious enough to never hold back or in the more conventional way…give up.
And you’re a creative. Will you give up now? Will you call it quit so soon?
What failure have you experienced recently and how has it helped you to grow? Share your comments below.
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Yusuff Busayo is a Writer, Entrepreneur, Speaker who loves books and book-making. Here, I blog about writing, creativity, and making impact.
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