If You’re Going To Fail, Fail Forward

I wrote roughly three articles before I wrote this one.

They’ve now gone into the internet graveyard. They’ve become words that will never see the light of day, and that’s OK.

Why?

Because they were garbage.

That’s right, garbage.

The sentences didn’t flow. The thoughts didn’t make sense. And it wasn’t really a good fit for anyone’s eyeballs to see except for mine, and that’s cool too.

Sometimes, you need to create, just to create. Sometimes you need to write down the thoughts in your brain, and the only person that will ever read them or see them is you.

And you know what? That’s ok.

Really.

Trust me.

In the conveyor belt that’s become the creative production and freelance world, there’s an expectation to create and produce, and create more and produce more, and sometimes, it’s a little too much.

As artists and writers we put so much focus on product, we can too often forget the road to creation is paved with a lot of failure and garbage.

There it is again – garbage.

Sometimes I write and it’s bad. Sometimes I write and it’s really not appropriate to share on a public platform. Sometimes I create and think it’s great, and then realize when I’m editing it that it’s terrible – and I need to start all over and toss whatever I created into the garbage, and begin again.

But that’s the beauty of creation. The trials and tribulations. The looking and examining and making sure it’s the best possible version of itself.

Nothing’s perfect from day one.

Masterpieces need tender love and care, and that doesn’t just happen on the first shot.

So when your editing, or looking at a piece that you created, or a business that you’ve started, don’t be afraid to throw out the garbage and start over.

The beauty of this life is learning how to fail forward. There’s so much to be learned when that happens, so much wisdom to be gained. Allow yourself to fail and fall, and give yourself the permission to pick up and start anew.