The Steps to Accepting Failure (or what to do with all my lemons)
Everybody has a setback once in a while, but it doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with you! Gather your lemons and learn to make lemonade when you fail!
In fact, failure can be an excellent opportunity to learn your own limitations and boundaries, and provide you with a chance to learn how to think outside the box – how to make lemonade from failures.
Unfortunately, we are often taught that accepting failure means accepting that we are failures.
We begin to believe that we are not worthy of any kind of encouragement or positivity, simply because we are overwhelmed by the incredible emotions that come with the idea that we are worthless when we are not succeeding at something.
The fact of the matter is that success is something that has to be personally defined. Otherwise, you will find that you are far more inhibited by the expectations and interpretations of success that other people place on your shoulders.
Here’s the thing: no one gets to label what is a lemon in your life. That is up to you!! And more importantly, learning how to make lemonade with your failures is a choice you alone get to make!
Nobody deserves to have their sense of self-worth defined by somebody else. That is a personal choice, and a significant thing for you to do in this sense is to really sit down and consider what you would define as successful.
How to Make Lemonade When You Fail?
First of all, acceptance is key. The first step to anything is being able to accept that it is happening. And it is something in your life that you need to deal with.
Staying in denial about anything can be a huge problem. If you are in denial about the way you feel when you experience a failure, then you are going to have a much harder time swerving past that obstacle.
It’s okay for you to be upset that something didn’t go right. Don’t beat yourself up about it too long. But do accept that you feel unhappy about it and work through those feelings ultimately.
The next thing you need to remember is never to identify yourself as a failure.
Putting labels on yourself like this can be extremely difficult for you to overcome. You are not a failure because something went wrong. You just have more lemons in your basket!
However, we often get stuck and stop seeing the opportunities that are still around us to either make things right or to go in a new and even better direction.
This is when it is helpful to start to consider the situation from all angles. There is bound to be a way for you to benefit from the case, even if it isn’t the one that you are hoping it would be.
In fact, you make the sweetest lemonade in town!
Think about what you can learn from your failure and how you can grow from it. Think about what constructive things can be taken away from your failure and allow yourself to consider all options rather than feeling as if there are no other alternatives.
There is always an option. Whether we can accept that option or not is a personal choice. choose to learn how to make lemonade when you fail.
You will be a success who is capable of rising from the ashes. Making sweet, sweet lemonade.
What is most important, though, is to understand that failure is a standard part of life. Nothing worthwhile happens quickly. There is always going to be something in the way, and as long as you are willing to face it head-on and see it objectively, then you will never be a failure.
How to Examine Your Failure and Use it as Inspiration
Sometimes, when you fail, it can feel like the end of the world. None of us like to be told that we are doing something wrong. None of us like to experience setbacks in our plans. It can make us question our self-worth, and make us feel as if the things that we want to achieve are either out of our reach or merely stupid and challenging.
However, failure serves an essential function in human development. Without failure, we would never know what path we need to take to truly succeed. If everything was easy for us, then we would never learn.
Everything in our paths would be laid out for us, and we would never develop emotionally or mentally. What a boring world that would be! And there would be no lemons to make lemonade with!
Fortunately, failure comes regularly to most of us.
Indeed, it is how we choose to view it that truly separates those who are able to rise from the ashes from those who are prone to wallow in their setbacks. Sometimes, never making any progress, refusing to even look a lemonade recipe.
If you want to take a step forward in your life, you need to be able to understand that failure comes naturally, and you will need to learn how to use it as inspiration rather than as a reason to believe that you are worthless.
Inspiration comes in all forms. Most of us find inspiration from things that we enjoy, not from things that hurt us. However, when we are able to look at failure objectively, we will see that it is the easiest way to examine a situation from all angles.
It is a gift that our Creator gives to us so that we can become the most excellent versions of ourselves. Whom He created us to be.
To begin examining your failure, first, you must accept that it has happened and understand that your feeling about the situation is legitimate and you are allowed to feel those emotions and frustrations.
How to make lemonade for our failures? One ingredient at a time!
Once you have processed thoroughly, then you need to look at things constructively. Inspiration is a great motivator. When we are inspired, we are charged up and ready to create whatever changes need to be made to get us closer to our goals.
For this to happen, consider getting a gratitude journal. Any type of journal will do, it doesn’t have to just be a gratitude journal. But gratitude journals can be instrumental in this endeavor.
Maybe just take a break from what you’ve been doing and make yourself some lemonade. 😉
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You will want to look at all of the things that you have learned, and doing so in writing is a great way to really look inward and be reflective about your experiences.
Ready to make lemonade when you fail?
Writing about your failure and asking yourself important questions, like why did my failure happen? Who was affected by my inability? And how I was affected? What opportunities may be hidden? Or even asking yourself what could have been done differently, are all great ways for you to start thinking about a plan B!
And getting yourself inspired to take the next step forward so that you can rise from the ashes! And drink that refreshing lemonade you made from your failures!
