Posted by Ben Gatrelle on 21 Dec 2013 in Personal |

 

So I’ve started three blogs this week but haven’t managed to post any of them.

I could blame it on Christmas and shopping and the crowds. I could blame it in being busy at work and staying late. I could blame it on spending time with my family and going to Christmas parties. But the reality is I just haven’t done it. No excuses required.

So what do we do when we fail to meet our our own self-imposed goals and expectations for ourselves?

• First we check ourselves to make sure the expectations are realistic… Were we trying to fly to the moon or just get across town?

• We evaluate why we fail. Was it external or internal forces? Something within our control or outside of our control? Was the bridge out or were we making too many stops along the way, getting distracted by this store and that drive-thru?

• Make sure you aren’t just finding excuses. What can seem like an external force keeping us from meeting our goal can sometimes be overcome with perseverance. So if the bridge is out, look for an alternate route or a ferry to take you across.

• Recognize that failing to meet your expectation or your goal is not the true failure. It’s when we give up and don’t try agin that we have really failed. How we deal with the challenges says more about our character than if we achieve them or not.

Proverbs 24:16 says, “for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.” I love this verse because it tells me it’s ok to fail. Or maybe a better way of saying it is that I will fail, but my character determines if the failure will overwhelm me or propel me to try again.

Any time we set goals or expectations for ourselves we must build failure into the goal. Someone once said, if we’re meeting our goals every time, then we aren’t setting our goals high enough. Goals should be realistic, but difficult enough that we have to work at them.

And when I fail, I have to get back up. And get up again. And get up again.

And maybe write a blog about overcoming failure.