Failure isn’t what you think

Sep 21

While walking to pick up my son from school last week, I started thinking about failure. I heard a quote while I was in school for nutrition: “There is no failure, only feedback.” As I walked, the quote kept rolling around in my head, and honestly, I wasn't sure I really understood what it meant.

If you have known me since 2022, you know that I am a huge fan of looking up the meaning of words for deeper understanding. I grabbed my phone, and I looked up the definition of the word FAILURE. I always just assumed that failing at something meant it going horribly wrong and ending in embarrassment. You know, kind of like when you fail a test and get a paper with a big old red F on it. I was surprised to see that I was way off.

Failure ACTUALLY means: Omission of occurrence or performance. A failing to perform a duty or expected action. An inability to perform a normal function. A fracture or giving way under stress.

Omission means: Something neglected or left undone.

I don’t know about you - but my flabbers were gasted.

THIS MEANS that trying to do something and :

Not being good at it
Not being the best at it
It not going correctly
It not being as good as it could be
Everything going horribly wrong
Being embarrassed

IS NOT AN INDICATION OF FAILURE!!!

It just means that there is room for improvement, which makes room for the FEEDBACK that the original quote suggested. The real failure is neglecting it and leaving it undone. As long as you are DOING something and working towards whatever that thing is, you are not failing.

As an entrepreneur, I cannot begin to express how liberating it was to read that. As a content creator, I cannot begin to express how liberating it was to read that. As a mother, a wife, a friend, a Christian…

Many people are paralyzed by “fear of failure”, so much so that they never even try. This habit turns their biggest fear (failure) into reality. If you are actively working towards that goal, hands to the plow, taking the next step - even if it does not go according to plan - you are NOT FAILING!!! You are not a failure because you aren’t there yet.

If you are reading this and realize some things are in a state of “failure” because you neglected them, because fear paralyzed you, or because it didn't go the way you wanted the first time…be strong, be courageous, and try again.

“There is no failure, only feedback.”

Coach Jess