How do you feel when you fail? Does it set you back for a while? Are you super eager to bounce back and move on to the next thing? Today, we’re talking about failure. How to recover from it and how to use it as a tool for growth so you can find even more Etsy shop success!

Forward not backward

Obviously, no one wants to fail. It’s not an awesome feeling. But if we do fail, we want to fail forward. We want to gain more ground than where we started. 

Being resilient 

This is the first point we want to cover. Failing isn’t fun, but it’s adversity that makes us stronger! It’s kinda like working out. Whether you’re lifting weights, running, whatever it is, it’s hard. But the harder you push, your body learns to adjust and builds up for that. Our mental state is the same way. When we go through hard things, those same hard things become easier when we go through them more than once. 

Stronger and hating it

We want to be stronger but we often hate the process of becoming stronger. That said, the more often we go through the cycle of building strength, the easier it becomes. It’s really a necessary process we have to go through. If we can learn to dig in and understand the process, we’ll be more likely to know how good it is for us to build resilience. 

Taking risks

Another factor in failing forward and becoming stronger through the process is learning that it’s ok to take risks. If you don’t ever try because you’re afraid of failing, then you’ve already failed. The biggest failure is just never trying at all. If you never try then you’ll never know what you can and cannot accomplish. You have to be able to push yourself outside your comfort zone in order to find real growth. 

The pain point

There is a pain point that we often reach where we want to quit. We think “It’s too hard and it hurts too much”. Many times we think we’re done. But if we can learn to push past that pain point, that’s often where the breakthrough comes!

Now, it’s important to learn what risks to take and what you honestly shouldn’t do. Obviously, you don’t want to take risks that will crush you. And not all risks are right for all people. So as you grow, as you become more seasoned in your Etsy shop or whatever it may be, the risks you are willing to take will change and so will your pain point. 

A little fear

Having some fear of failure isn’t always a bad thing. It can often help to propel you. The key is taking that fear and harnessing it into an expectation of success and then pushing past the fear and visualizing your success! Because the truth is that if you are 100% sure you’re going to fail then that’s exactly what will happen. If you’re completely focused on failing and nothing else, then your chances of not reaching your goal are far greater. Feel the fear, but learn to use it.

Being positive and envisioning the outcome

We’ve said it SO many times, but it’s worth repeating a million times more! You become what you think about! If you’ve let your fear control you and you’re convinced what you’re trying isn’t going to work, then the outcome will be that you will fail. But, if you instead, focus on what you want and envision your success, truly seeing it in your mind, then the success is what you will run after! Even if it doesn’t succeed in the way you thought it might, you will learn SO much more in this positive mindset process than you would if you just never started or if you let your thoughts of failure stop you in your tracks. 

It takes practice

Most of the time envisioning success does not come easily or naturally. It’s something you may even have to force at first! But the more you practice visualizing your success, the more naturally it will come to you! It does take practice. This might look like writing down your goals in a journal, or maybe creating a vision board. Once you’ve trained your thoughts to envision your success instead of your failure, you’ll be surprised at how your outlook will more easily shift from pessimism to optimism! 

Learning constantly

Everything is a learning experience. With success and failure, you’re either succeeding or learning. So while failure does tend to sting more, it’s also when we fail that we learn the most. Which in a way is its own form of success. But that doesn’t mean that it won’t hurt and you won’t feel like you’re losing the battle in the moment. Again, the key is restructuring the way we view failure. Be aware that it might sting or just outright hurt, but it’s in these moments that we have the opportunity to be the best version of ourselves. We have the opportunity to address adversity in a positive way and turn it into a learning experience from which we can actually grow. 

In that moment

If you are in that moment of failure, try your best to not focus on the failure itself, but on the next step. Pour all of your energy and positivity into being aware that while this didn’t work out, you’re going to keep moving. Take the next step. Make the next plan. Set the next goal. You have this amazing opportunity to see where you need to make improvements and what you need to change. To fail is to be given the chance to do it better!

Have no regrets and accept reality

The best thing you can do if you’re experiencing failure in one form or another in your shop is to take ownership and responsibility for it and then move forward with an improved plan. Again, there is much more room for growth when you can take a clear look at what you’ve done, what worked and didn’t work, and learn what you want to move forward with and what you don’t. Stuff happens and when it does, fefuse to feel bad for yourself.

Remember, the world doesn’t happen to you, you happen to the world. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past, that cannot be changed. Now, in this moment, it’s time to take control of your goals, be positive, envision what you want and where you want to go, and beyond all else, keep moving forward! And if you do fail, fail forward! Pick yourself up and try again! 

Happy succeeding, everyone!

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