No one signs up for failure, not willingly at least, but it is a part of life and most importantly, a part of growth. Although failing is the most uncomfortable part of living, it is vital for success. A good number of people fear failure so much because of the overwhelming feelings of guilt and heartache attached to it and this can cause perfection paralysis. Perfection paralysis is a response to a fear of failure and this fear causes one to not be proactive in achieving their goals because of their belief that the results won’t reach their desired level of perfectionism.
There’s a big upside to setting goals when you’ve experienced failure in the past and that is you will be starting off with some knowledge, lessons and experience. It’s great to be in a position to make plans when you already know what works and what doesn’t. Here is a short guideline you can use to help you set new goals this 2023:
- Shift your mindset: Recognise that being in a position to set new goals when you have faced disappointments before means that you have wisdom. Shift your mindset from looking at failure negatively and realise that the wisdom that comes from failing not only benefits you, but those that are to come after you.
- Introspect: Don’t make the mistake of failing and immediately setting new goals before doing some introspection and assessment of why there were setbacks before. Oftentimes we pay attention to the “what” and forget to mind the “why”. We pay attention to what happened, the fact that we failed and miss taking some time to understand why we failed. It’s incredibly important to set aside some time to understand what it is that caused you to face setbacks so that you may set new goals from a place of wisdom.
- Try something new: As you set new goals, plan and research what you should do differently this time around and be very intentional about them. Set new habits and don’t do this mindlessly. Merely setting up new goals without properly planning and researching how to implement them and stick through them will leave you stuck in a rut and back to square one. Do your research on what it will take for you to succeed in achieving your goals this year. Set up new habits and connect to platforms and people who will help you stick to these new habits. We will be publishing blog posts 2 times a week in order to keep you accountable and to encourage you to keep on working on those goals without doubting your capacities.
- Realign and plan again: With a shifted mindset and knowledge of the fact that failure comes with wisdom, sit down and realign your priorities with clarity of what of it is that you’re going after. Set up an atmosphere that is conducive for the fulfilment of your goals. Some habits will not only be difficult to break, they might also be heartbreaking but the cost of unfulfilled dreams is much greater than holding on to things that no longer serve you.
If you found this blog post useful , please comment below. How have you navigated goal setting when you had failed before?
