Stress Relief Tip - Reframe Failure

Rather than thinking of failure as something negative, consider it part of your education in your future success. When you fail, it just means you tried one way and now it is time to try another way. In other words, failure is just feedback. When you fail, the world is providing you feedback that you need to take a different approach. When you are progressing forward, you will run into obstacles along the way.

When you think of failure instead of feedback, you are listening to your inner critic. We all fail – that’s part of life. How we perceive failure is what separates those who want to reduce their stress and those who will continue to pile it on.

In fact, Matthew Matheson's The Church of Fail (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI9cGJ01ERk) actually teaches us to celebrate failures. Attendees step forward in front of an audience and answer three questions about what they failed at:

What did you fail at?

How did you cope with it?

What would you do differently?

After they present, they then receive a round of applause and are not allowed to step down until the applause has ended. The peculiar feeling that comes from accepting a round of applause, coupled with vulnerability of sharing, leaves a greater mark than if you sat quietly in a room noting you’d made a mistake.

Pretty much everyone who has ever tried anything has cupboards full of botched attempts, rejection letters and memories of being passed over and ignored. Let’s face it, we’ve all failed. Maybe not on a grand scale, but in some way, shape or form, we’ve screwed up.(1)

So stop stressing and remember you are part of a very large club. In fact, you could even celebrate your failure with others by attending a local F**k Up Night (FUN) in which professionals recount about their worst work screwups.(2)

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

― Thomas A. Edison, American Inventor, 1847 – 1931

(1) https://www.amazon.com/Failed-mistakes-advice-successfully-screwing/dp/0714871192/

(2) https://qz.com/work/1491752/entrepreneurs-celebrate-their-failures-at-fuckup-nights/

Please note that there is no guarantee a particular stress relief tool will work for you. Thus you must take complete responsibility for using them and for your own physical and emotional wellbeing. Further, Professor Pete Alexander is not a licensed health professional. Please consult qualified health practitioners regarding your use of any stress relief technique. Medical advice must only be obtained from a physician or qualified health practitioner.