That you have not reached your goal only means that you have not reached it yet. Failure is only a judgment about short-term results. In this article I show you, in 3 simple steps, how to take advantage of your "failure" seeing it from a different perspective to turn it into a growth opportunity.
Failure does not mean that we have done wrong.
It means that we have not done what needed to be done.
Failure does not mean lack of capacity.
It means that we need to do things differently.
Failure does not mean that life does not support us.
It means that life has something better in store for us.
Failure does not mean that everything is over.
It means we need to start over.
As you can see failure is an interpretation that you choose to make of what happened. There is a great difference between the "reality of what happened" and the "Interpretation" that you choose to make of that reality.
The "Interpretations" we make open or close "spaces for action", a space for action is a place within you from where you allow yourself to see yourself with resources and options to achieve your goals. Depending on the «Interpretation» you choose to do, it will be the size and quality of that space for action.
What do you think gives you better results in your interpretation?
In what way can you interpret situations to have resources and options?
"We do not see reality as it is, we see it as we are." Buddha
Strategy 1 to transform failure into opportunity
Distinguish between ability and possibility
You may ask yourself:
Can't or can't do something? There is a big difference between possibility and capacity.
Example: You may not yet know how to do something, but that does not mean that it is not possible for you to do it, in such a way that you only need to learn how to do it. This will give you a new vision of possibility in your life, the next time you find yourself in a situation that seems "impossible" ask yourself: Is it really impossible or is it just that you still don't know how to handle it? That will give you options to act and increase your confidence.
An additional tip: It is good to remember that even if you want you cannot fail because your brain is designed for success since it is the most sophisticated machine that exists as a product of thousands of years of evolution, you have all the resources within you right now, at reach of your brain. You just need to learn to understand this and give another approach to your way of seeing yourself and your possibilities. On the other hand, learning to do is partly what life is all about and what the most powerful tool you have was designed for: your mind. Doesn't that sound great to you?
Strategy 2 to transform failure into opportunity
Appreciate your effort
Instead of thinking that you have failed and that you "did it wrong", think that you are doing your best and you can do better.
Remember that all behavior has a purpose, even if you "fail" to achieve a goal, that just means you can choose to do it differently; If you calm down, do not be discouraged and have the disposition to appreciate your effort, you will realize that you are capable of doing things that bring you closer to your goal, only next time you will approach it in a different way.
Appreciating your effort allows you to appreciate yourself, to think about the options and alternatives, changing the focus of what still does not come out to how much you can still achieve.
For that ask yourself:
What do you focus on, everything you have or what you lack?
In how much you know or in what you have not yet mastered?
In everything you can or in what you have not yet learned to do?
"The person who really wants to do something, finds a way to do it, the others find reasons and excuses."
Strategy 3 to transform failure into opportunity
Interpretation is not reality
Facts show us that we have done one thing or another.
The interpretation: "failure" only lives in the dialogue we use to explain these facts.
It is you who chooses to live that explanation as if it were the fact without realizing that it is only an interpretation that living it or feeling it as if it were true leaves you without resources or possibilities.
Consequently: It is more convenient that you deliberately construct an explanation that generates options and possibilities and you can do it, because in the space of your own mind only you think.
Remember: Pain is biological but suffering is linguistic, because it lives in conversation or language through the interpretation we make of the events that have occurred and that we live as if they were true.
You can choose which interpretation to build and facing each «problem» it is up to you to see the opportunity.
If you want to understand, act.
