Lessons in failure

I think it's safe to say that we all fail sometimes. Sometimes we fail pretty hard. That's fine. It's life. It's a learning experience.

But when it comes to a project that depends on success -- there are no second chances, there is no turning back -- how do we deal with failure?

After class last week, I had a revelation. I thought:

 yeah, I can do this. I can actually start up this company. I can patent it; I have local connections to start with. I'll start branding. I know how to use social media. This could work. 

Ideas were forming in my head before I could stop myself. I thought about all the ways I could advertise. I thought about reaching out to different kinds of people who would support my idea and help me make it a reality. I thought about connections and networks I had that could benefit and be part of my project. 

Then I stepped out of the classroom. The further I walked away from the threshold, the further I felt my ideas sink. What if it doesn't work? What if it flops? What if I just can't do it?

Then I realized that it really doesn't matter. If I hit rock bottom, it can be an inspiration to start anew. And if I fail, if everything I could do flops on the ground like a dead fish, so what? It's not the end of the world. It doesn't mean I can never succeed again. It just means it wasn't the right time for one idea. 

I wrote another post about Karen Larson, owner of The Candy Bar in downtown Durham. She had a greeting card business before. Her business didn't flop, but her ideas were ahead of their time. Now, her same style of greeting card that she used to sell as a new product is sold all over the place. Larson didn't consider it a failure; she just had to stop. And now she has a new business that is everything she wanted it to be.