There Is No Failure. Only Feedback

If you take a minute and really ponder about this saying… you’ve got it made with regards to everything you press forward to do in your life!

Thomas Edison never failed. He just discovered 10,000 ways something didn’t work. I’m glad he viewed his process of discovering the light bulb as feedback, how about you?

It’s all discovery and feedback. Look at your business as just that.

New home based business owners are often afraid to move forward because of a fear of failure. There’s so much bottled up fear of judgement and fear of what others will think of them.

Nobody wants to look like a goof.

Nobody wants to fail “out loud in public”.

Nobody wants to fail in front of family and friends, especially the ones who told them not to do it in the first place. They don’t want to hear the proverbial “I told you so!”

I get it. I understand. I am no different than you. This was a fear I had when I got started in my home business back in 2007.

In fact, it took me almost a year to get my head straight about this. When I was finally able to understand that failure is not failure, it’s just feedback, I was able to get out of my own way and let loose in a big way.

What if we just removed failure altogether?

Robert Allen said it perfectly….. “There is no failure, only feedback.”

This is what I finally grasped that freed me from this fear of failure. I knew the ONLY way I would fail is f I quit. And there wasn’t a chance that was going to happen! Others were succeeding so I knew I could too. I just had to learn some stuff and keep learning and then implement, try things and keep doing that. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Going forward, I encourage you to embrace this truth. There’s no failure, only feedback.

If you get good results - the feedback is it worked, or is working.

If you get poor or not results - the feedback is you need to do it a different way.

No Big Deal!

With internet marketing, there’s are moving parts and you will be receiving all kinds of feedback such as whether or not these things are working or not working:

Ads
Capture pages
Sales pages
Email Titles
Email content
Blog Titles
Blog content
Calls to action
Videos
Phone conversations
and more

Let’s take a look at some example a little more deeper.

If you write an email and nobody opens it…it’s not failure.

It’s feedback that says:

“Hey, there’s a couple possible solutions to change… ”

1) The email needs a more interesting subject line.

2) The email address you’re using to send from is causing deliverability issues.

3) The email client you’re using is having deliverability issues.

4) The subscribers aren’t getting value from you and should unsubscribe.

5) Is the content you send them relevant to what they signed up for?

If you make a video and you’re not getting views… it’s not failure.

It’s feedback that says:

“Hey, there’s a couple possible solutions to change… ”

1) This video isn’t connecting with your target market.

2) Check your tags, title, description and keywords.

3) Does the background of the video showcase dirty dishes or sitting in a bedroom?

4) Check your confidence level.

5) How’s the authenticity of your message?

6) How’s the lighting and sound?

7) Is the video too long?

If you place an ad and you get no opt-ins to your list… it’s not failure.

It’s feedback that says:

“Hey, there’s a couple possible solutions to change… ”

1) This venue isn’t connecting with your target market.

2) Your headline isn’t interesting enough.

3) Your ad copy body needs to say something different.

4) Your ad is fine but you need to change the ‘next step’ you’re asking your viewer to go through to be more congruent with your ad.

If you are blogging and you have no views… it’s not failure.

It’s feedback that says:

“Hey, there’s a couple possible solutions to change…”

1) Make sure your syndicating your content (getting it out there for people to read, such as posting to Facebook for example)

2) Make sure your SEO steps are complete.

3) Make sure your keywords are even being searched.

4) Make sure it’s the right message for your target audience

5) Make sure it’s understandable and your’re communicating the right way

If you’re feeling poorly because you haven’t made a sale, it’s not failure.

It’s feedback that says:

“Hey, success is a journey. Stand tall and make sure you are doing what successful people do, such as…”

1) Read 30 min a day personal development topics.

2) Listen to personal development audio for at least 30 min a day.

3) Doing income producing activities every day.

4) Registered and attending the next event for your company or industry

5) Reviewing your goals, your ‘why’ which is your dreams and have drawn a line in the sand that says, “I will do whatever it takes.”

6) Keep marketing, keep tweaking your marketing

7) Maybe hiring a coach is called for.

You see, these are all things that go along with learning to market. That’s what a home based business owner does.

Feedback From My Seam Ripper

When I was a girl and learning how to sew, I can’t tell you how many times I had to rip a zipper out, or a seam that went crooked or a piece of fabric that got caught in the needle’s path even when I was careful and doing my best.

I remember every time I realized I had made a mistake and had to reach for my seam ripper (which pretty much just sat right there on my working table because I needed it so much, there was drama. Oh, I’d get to upset with myself. Ripping out a seam takes time and you have to be careful to not put a hole in the fabric.

As the years went on, I still needed my seam ripper (I had a collection!) but I needed them less often.

The feedback I received after making a a mistake was…

the dress didn’t fit right
the zipper didn’t open
the material didn’t lay right.

Believe you me… mistakes were awesome because they proved to give me the best feedback and acted as teachers. The good news is that because I kept at it and didn’t quit, I made them less and less.

While you’re receiving feedback as you grow your business, celebrate the feedback and be excited about where you’re headed. Know that you’ll get there.

Have fun, learn to laugh at yourself, love life, and enjoy your journey!

Re-frame your thoughts and the word “failure”.

Never again will you fail. You will only receive feedback.

Hopefully you are practicing this in your home even with your children you have influence over.

When kids are young…

they fall down as they learn to walk.
they fall off the bike before they learn to balance.
they scribble before they draw.
the bat misses the connection with the ball before they get to first base.

Are you telling them they are failures?

Or are you giving them feedback and cheering their efforts knowing that just around the corner that…

they will walk with falling..
they will balance and ride their bike..
they will draw and sketch and it will be their unique art style.
they will hit the ball, however far it goes.

Overcoming Failure and Failure Quotations

If you think there’s some bologna about failure being feedback, look how many famous people celebrate failure toward the success they accomplished.

There is no failure, only feedback – Robert Allen

If you’re doing your best, you won’t have any time to worry about failure. – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Failure is an event, never a person. – William D. Brown

The only time you don’t fail is the last time you try anything – and it works. – William Strong

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. – Thomas Edison

There is no failure except in no longer trying. – Elbert Hubbard

Supposing you have tried and failed again and again. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call “failure” is not the falling down, but the staying down. – Mary Pickford

Try again. Fail again. Fail better. – Samuel Beckett

Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure… it just means you haven’t succeeded yet. – Robert Schuller

One fails forward toward success. – Charles F. Kettering

A man may fall many times, but he won’t be a failure until he says that someone pushed him. – Elmer G. Letterman

Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. – F. Scott Fitzgerald

They say President Wilson has blundered. Perhaps he has, but I notice he usually blunders forward. – Thomas Edison

There are defeats more triumphant than victories. – Michel de Montaigne

Failure sometimes enlarges the spirit. You have to fall back upon humanity and God. – Charles Horton Cooley

Notice the difference between what happens when a man says to himself, “I have failed three times,” and what happens when he says, “I am a failure.” – S.I. Hayakawa

A failure is a man who has blundered, but is not able to cash in the experience. – Elbert Hubbard

Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. – Henry Ford

Because a fellow has failed once or twice or a dozen times, you don’t want to set him down as a failure till he’s dead or loses his courage. – George Horace Lorimer

You can’t have any successes unless you can accept failure. – George Cukor

Failure changes for the better, success for the worse. – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

You always pass failure on your way to success. – Mickey Rooney

Nothing fails like success because we don’t learn from it. We learn only from failure. – Kenneth Boudling

It is a mistake to suppose that people succeed through success; they often succeed through failures. – Author Unknown

The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed. – Lloyd Jones

YOUR NEW MOTTO:

Never fail. Only feedback!

Have an awesome ‘No Failure, Only Feedback’ day!

Debbie Turner
Lifestyle Entrepreneur

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There Is No Failure. Only Feedback