Hello go-getters! It’s Monday, a day of back attum’s and to-dos n full force. We want to add one tiny thing to your list this week. Fail. Fail big. Fail fast. Fail often. Yes, we said it. That dreaded F word.
WHAT, you say? I thought we were friends? I thought you liked me. We do. Pinky promise. But, we want to make the case for failing and hi-five celebrate the jam out of the spectacular hilarity of your mishap. Stick with us…
Failure is your friend. The best lessons you are apt to learn in life, come at the end of a great many trial + errors. I know for me, I only got decent at public speaking after 30 or so times of being a total disaster. And most days, most of the art I create I still consider a failure. BUT. I’m learning, I’m enjoying the process and that is the point. Giving myself permission to fail, to be okay with mediocrity, removes the pressure to be perfect. An oops is just an oops, and sometimes even turns into something quite lovely.
How to embrace failure in your life? Stop seeing it as a bad thing. Instead, look at it as a lesson, a crucial step in your journey to becoming the best version of you you can be. In praise of failure, here are 5 of our favorite ways to release your inner critic, try something different and have some fun. No judgement, no expectation and no perfection seeking allowed.
Draw or write with your non-dominant hand.
Pick a new medium. If you’re usually a writer, draw. If you’re usually a dancer, paint. If you’re usually a photographer, write a haiku. Just for the day, give yourself the chance to try something new and unfamiliar.
Work in reverse. Paint a canvas from bottom to top. Write the last chapter first. See where things go when you start at the end.
Cut or rip up your current work into small pieces. Put it back together in a new combination. See what transforms.
Modify your tools. Tape your pencil or paintbrush to a stick. Get off your laptop and write in cursive or exaggerated script. Simple tweaks to get you out of your routine will fire up new parts of your brain.
So - go get ‘em. Get out there and fail BIG TIME won’t you?
