I’m just gonna say it: Make peace with FAILURE.
This has not been an easy lesson for me to learn as a female entrepreneur. I guess for many of you neither.
I tried to find the root of my discomfort with this word and with accepting and yelling to the four winds that yes: I have failed.
In the quest for answers, I found that American society equates failure with personal worth. If you fail, you are incapable of doing something, you did not measure up, you were “not enough”.
In Latin America, the mindset is similar but a bit different.
Due to high levels of #gbv, failure is expected of women and even encouraged as a punishment for daring to go out of the status quo. Overall, failure in this region is presumed for, a culture of sacrifice (legacy of colonial rule) is daily present.
You can already imagine the huge load of self-guilt we can put on our shoulders for “simply trying”.
You can cry all you want, you can resist it and even dread the day someone judges you telling at your face what you do not have the courage to see for yourself.
Yes, you CAN fail.
It is not prohibited.
It doesn’t make you any less of a person.
It doesn’t make you worthless.
Remember that famous quote by Thomas Edison? “I have not failed. I’ve just found 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb”.
Read it again. Whatever error you made, it stir you away from a path that wasn’t for you. Cherish that win in…knowledge!
And learn to accept failure CAN be part of the entrepreneurial journey and it is ok. It means you had the courage to try.
The challenge is to see it for what it is: A LESSON, NOT THE FINAL DESTINATION.
So, open yourself to the process: you may experience failure but you will see success too.
It may take time, effort and a strong mindset to push through but whatever you seek is coming for you!
Do not give up.
Lumina Magazine 