Stories We Tell Ourselves: Past Failure Means Future Failure pt 2

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone.

Close the door on the past.

You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on them.

You don’t let them have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.

Johnny Cash

We will continue to build on last week’s post, where we talked about letting the past rule our present and future choices. I shared a story about how a misstep at age 7 could have changed the whole trajectory of my life if we, my mother and I, had let it. Certainly, I would like to think I would have made the best of that alternative life, but I am not certain I would have found it as satisfying or fulfilling. I know I would not have traveled as much, moved as often, nor would I have met the many marvelous people who later became friends. It would have been a potentially smaller life.

We have the opportunity, almost daily, at home, and certainly at work to look at new and different directions. We shortchange ourselves if our first thoughts are how poorly we have done in the past, rather than seeing the opportunities before us. Opportunities to learn, to do, to expand our lives and our horizons.

I am not a Pollyanna-type thinker. So no, I am not saying that everything we touch will not work out. But we never know until we try. And I can guarantee that I will learn something every time I step out of my comfort zone.

Old Belief:

“Past failure means future failure.”

New Beliefs:

“My past failures have little bearing on my future.”
“Past failures help me avoid future mistakes.”
“Through old failures I discover ways that do not work for me”
“Each failure teaches me something and brings me one step closer to success.”

The simple truth is that our past failures do not define our current endeavors. Just because we have failed in the past does not mean that we will fail in the future.

Past failures can prove to be an advantage! If nothing else, we discover one way that will not work for us, which means we can avoid that step going forward the next time.

I am sure you have heard the story about Thomas Edison who struggled for years to figure out how to invent a functioning lightbulb. When asked how he kept going despite so much “failure,” he said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” It’s important to adopt a similar belief. You haven’t failed in the past.

How Do We Move Forward?

Action Steps

Dig out your journal and write down the ways you think you have “failed” in the past. Determine how each of these failures has brought you closer to success.

Resolve that you will not let past failures keep you from pursuing what really matters to you.

Affirmation

I affirm that each past failure has brought me one step closer to success. I am closer to success now than I ever have been in the past.

I refuse to let my past failures keep me from pursuing what really matters to me.

I am committed to my success, regardless of the past.

Next Time

In the next blog, we’ll discover how we can learn from our past and look forward to a bright future.

Chat soon.