How to handle failure

A bit of news from our end that soon there will be four Robertsons!

Luke and I are excited about a new addition to our wee family arriving in November (and no, not another dog!)

But as with working towards any objective in life, things didn't pan out as we'd imagined - and we learned so much about how to handle failure.

I'll dive into what we learned, including the mindset that helped us, and explain how you can apply this to your own goals.

So for us it's been quite a journey over the last two years to get here, including losing two pregnancies last year.

Miscarriage is such a strange thing that I had no way to fully understand until I went through it. Although what’s lost is small in size, it’s more the loss of hope and a possible future that’s most devastating.

But with this journey - as with all the toughest parts of life - I’ve learned so much about going all in on something I want and doing everything I can to make it happen.

And about not giving up.

So many times I almost gave up. So many times I thought “I’m not sure I can do this any more.” 

But even when I didn’t think I could physically handle any more disappointment of not having it, month after month, I managed to keep going. 

I kept focused on what we wanted - a family. 

I knew so deeply that having this was 100% worth all the aching disappointment and sadness along the way.

And I kept coming back to the same question “what if this next time could be it?”

This is the same mindset you can apply to any goal you’re working towards. 

You're always going to come up against setbacks and failure along the way.

This is life after all.

In all its gloriously messy wonder.

And so whatever goal you’re working towards - maybe it’s securing investment, hiring new team members, helping people think and act differently on the climate emergency or speaking confidently at conferences - it’s probably going to go something like this:

Fail, fail, fail……….fail, succeed.

And if you're in the failing stage (which you most likely are), this question might help:

What if you’re just one more attempt away from success?

Imagine you’ve already reached your goal.

You've secured the funding, signed the investor contract, nailed your presentation in front of hundreds of people. 

Your goal is done.

Now, think about any setbacks you're going through at the moment - but from the place of the goal already being done.

How did you get there?

Of course you kept going, and tried one more time.

Of course you summoned the energy to pitch to another possible investor. Of course you put yourself in front of people to talk even though you felt terrified.

Of course you handled the disappointment and rejection of another no. Or the new team member leaving, just a few weeks after starting. 

Because it was all just part of the process you had to go through in order to succeed. 

So wherever you are, however much you're failing - keep going. 

Your goals are worth every ounce of discomfort and disappointment along the way.

What if you’re just one more attempt away from success? 

What if this next one was it?