Fail Fast Fail Forward 🙌

Raise your hand if you go out there to fail?...No?

That's just my point. No-one wants to fail.

Yet failure is a massive part of the journey to success.

Online our failings are laid out there for all to see.

Our fear of failure can lead us to subconsciously self-sabotage our drive to succeed. Almost like a protective shield from being hurt.

It can be a scary world this online universe where internet trolls, keyboard warriors, judgmental people are lurking out there waiting to pounce and broadcast our failings.

12months ago I was caring for my elderly mum who was showing an early onset of dementia. I decided I couldn’t continue to work my full-time job and care for mum, so I began my search to build an income online.

I immersed myself in learning and I completed online courses where I learned how to use my current skills to solve other peoples problems.

So, excitedly I created this very simple program. I recorded and released my very first Basic Budgeting program aimed to provide simple money literacy skills to help people make smarter decisions with their money.

The program was the online version of the workshops I delivered to community services which drew life-changing feedback.

My sole focus was to empower people with the knowledge and skills I wish I had been equipped with and may have prevented my own financial ruin.

I really thought I’d be setting the world on fire once I hit the launch button and so I couldn’t wait to wake up to countless enrolments.

Hours…days…weeks…months went past and other than a couple of takers… Crickets…

At first, the emotional roller coaster that came with this exercise was incredible.

Feelings of: excited anticipation as I put the material together, frustration as I navigated through the online tools and systems to host my program, fear of failure and fear of judgment kept ringing in my head. Ghosts of the past coming back to play with my mind.

Feelings of Imposter Syndrome reared its ugly head as I find it regularly does..

At the same time, family and friends were amazingly encouraging and agreed there is a definite need for people out there to learn these skills.

So why nothing online? Why wasn’t I getting any interest?

17mths later I realized my course was like a rowboat floating aimlessly out in the vast ocean waiting to be discovered.

The study and practice I have been going through since joining the SFM/Digital Experts Academy have made me realize that the major part in the process I am missing is the newscast to the people who need my course, and the compass to direct them to my solution.

In other words, marketing my course.
More on that process in another article.

The thing is, some people would judge the fact that I hadn’t made any real sale as a failure.

Well, to be honest, I was feeling a sense of failure myself. I was questioning if people really needed my course.
 

Just then a Will Smith broadcast popped up in my Facebook feed. Will talks about his thoughts about failure:

Now that is serendipity at its best.
 

Have you had moments of struggle in your life when out of the blue you receive some message, contact, or voice at that very moment in time when you need it the most?

Well, this was one of those moments for me.

Thanks to this moment, I now look at failures as a signpost to a new lesson.

I’m not afraid or threatened by my failings as long as I can “fail forward” as described by Will Smith.

I remind myself of these challenges this is meant to be a marathon and not a sprint.

As we are navigating this world of entrepreneurship, we need to ensure we are in a supportive community of people who nourish you. People who strengthen you.
 

These are the people who will support you to stay on track when you have a fall. These are the people whose voices will encourage you to stay on the path. 

So, “Fail Fast. Fail Often. Fail Forward”…Will Smith.

Find out more about my journey..With Love Taga xxx