We are in the holiday season, and I am so excited about it! Christmas time is one of the most wonderful times of the year for me and my family. However, during the celebration, my mind is also set on the new year and what I desire to accomplish. I have learned to be ambidextrous in this regard over the years. Learning to celebrate, strategize, and execute are must-have skills that we all need to cultivate.
But one of the biggest barriers I have had to work to overcome in having one eye on the holiday season and the other in the new year is the fear of failure. Yes, you read it right, FEAR OF FAILURE.
In prior blogs, I shared that founding the King’s Collective Network took 14 years in the making. It was borne not out of pristine execution of goals without failure, but much failure and lessons learned that converged over a 14-year period into a clarified sense of purpose, vision, and mission.
God helped me to use the gift of failure to clarify my purpose. Yes, failure can be one of the most important tools that you can use to help you get on the pathway to your purpose and pursue your great. But to employ the gift of failure requires embracing courage, and cultivating a growth mindset and a strategic mindset.
Embracing a Courageous Mindset
Courage can be defined as, “Mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” [1]
There are many scriptures that address courage. One of my favorites comes from 2 Timothy 1:5-7:
5-7 That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible (MSG). [2]
The Apostle Paul affirmed Timothy and his gifts, calling, and purpose, and encouraged him to be bold in overcoming fear to execute.
Bestselling author and Research Professor, Dr. Brené Brown in her book entitled Dare to Lead, quotes Theodore Roosevelt:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again…who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”(xvii-xviii)[3]
Embracing a Growth Mindset
The gift of failure works best when you embrace a growth mindset. You believe that you can improve. The issue for me on my 14-year journey and the outcomes I am having now is that I choose to not allow failure to define me, only my calling. Now that I have a clear sense of purpose, I have come to embrace failure and I have allowed it to challenge my paradigm. I am now willing to fail 1,000 times in pursuit of my purpose. Each moment of failure is an opportunity to improve. To date, I have never failed 1,000 times at any endeavor, but with a clear sense of purpose, I am willing to fail that much and more to fulfill my purpose. How about you?
Embracing a Strategic Mindset
Embracing a growth mindset does not mean that you are to be a glutton for punishment, nor does it mean that you look forward to failure without any framework to achieve successful outcomes. What it does mean is that it involves intentionally looking for strategic ways to improve and make an impact. If you are failing, you need to ask key questions. Are you failing because your strategy is unclear? Is there a skills gap? Is it because of poor tactics? Is there a resource gap? Are you not executing? Do you lack accountability? Is it poor planning? You must be intentional and transparent in discerning the root cause(s) on why you are failing.
Are you willing to fail while daring greatly? What are you passionate about seeing come into fruition in your life in 2022 related to fulfilling your purpose?
[1] Courage. (n.d.). The Merriam-Webster.Com Dictionary. Retrieved December 5, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/courage
[2] 2 Timothy 1:5–7 (MSG). (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved December 5, 2021, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+timothy+1%3A5-7&version=MSG
[3] Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. Random House.