Failing Forward

Failing forward is an interesting concept that I read months back on a fitness business blog. I’ve been applying the concept to my own business, but I realized recently that I should be applying it to all facets of my life. And I think it something you should consider too.

                The idea of failing forward is this: let’s say you have a goal, like losing 20 lbs in 3 months. It’s a reasonable goal, not too bold, but not too easy either. You got a plan laid out to get you 20 lbs lighter, and you follow it as best as you can. There will be some high points and low points, but for the most part you’re keeping up with the plan. When the 3 month mark hits, you jump on the scale and you see you’ve lost 15 lbs.

                For many, they see this as failure. They get discouraged because they didn’t get 20 lbs. And true, they didn’t reach their initial goal, and in that sense they failed. But what they forget is that they are now 15 lbs lighter than they were before. They are 15 lbs closer to their intended goal. They failed, yes, but they failed forward. They may not have lost 20 lbs in 3 months, but maybe it will take another month to get to 20, or maybe two.

                The point here is that you set yourself a goal and you’re taking steps toward it. You may not have reached it in the timeframe you originally intended, but if you keep at it, you will reach your goal. Don’t stop because you failed the first time. It took Thomas Edison thousands of tries to invent the light bulb. That’s thousands of failures. Did he give up? Obviously not. But each of those failures was one step forward to reaching his goal. In fact, to Edison, he didn’t believe he failed; he “found 10000 ways that don’t work.”

 

 

                Start applying the “failing forward” concept to your life. Each “failure” is a learning experience. You learn what works and what doesn’t. Most importantly, you’re always striving for your goals, even if you don't reach them when you want to.