Redeeming Challenging Moments

One of the things I learned over the course of the last few months is that challenging moments (even the ones in which we have failed) can be redeemed. Let me address failure specifically. Failure is challenging, right? It exposes our weaknesses and tempts us to self-identify is failures. But redeeming our failures turns them into opportunities for growth.

Here's how to redeem a challenging moment.

1. Journal what happened. What were you trying to accomplish and why did you fail? Write about what was going on with the process? What was going on with you emotionally? Spiritually? Socially?
2. Narrow down the potential reasons for the failure and clarify it into just a few sentences.
3. And finally, share what you learned with someone. This creates positive accountability and makes the experience useful to yourself and to others.
4. On your own, or with a friend or accountability partner, write out a simple plan that will help you do something different in the future... and create an action plan that incorporates a new discipline?

In my limited experience, redeeming a challenging moment helps us not only turn a failed experiment into a learning experience, but it removes the need for us to self-identify as a failure. Learning is success. Learning that leads to change is even greater success!

What failure or challenging experience can you redeem today?