Epic Fails

So many people, myself included, fear failure. I saw this graphic online and I think it serves as a good reminder:

The above statement is absolutely true. There is virtually no creativity without failure (unless you happen to be God) so if we are going to be creatives, it’s kind of pointless to fear failure. Everyone of these people was considered a failure, not good enough, and on and on. Can you believe someone thought Walter Elias Disney lacked imagination??? It seems ludicrous now but at one point, everyone of these greats, all of whom are now seen as the pinnacles of their respective crafts, was labeled a failure and rejected.

There was a failure here alright… a failure to see the greatness each of these folks possess and that fail was epic. But I want you to see something else. The reason every one of them rose to greatness was because they rejected the idea that they were a failure and pressed on. Look guys, not everyone is going to get you. Some people are going to think your work is garbage. Ignore them. You’re not a failure. You’re the creation of the only creative who has never, not even once failed. You cannot be a failure because your Creator has never failed. So press on. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off ask God to confirm your direction and press on.

You can do everything God has created you to do. Stick with it. You may have some bumps in the road, even some changes in direction, but there is success beyond the feeling of failure for those who will keep going.

Feeling Like a Failure

Then you need to see this…

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. Sir Winston Churchill

Churchill on Success (Click Image to get this on a shirt)

I read this quote today in You Are Talented by Patrick Kavanaugh and it really hit home. The only people who never fail are the people who never try. Not so ironically those who never try, never succeed therefore failure is necessary for success. So fail with great gusto, learn from your mistakes and press on toward the goal God has for your life.

To close, the great statesman Churchill also said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Persevere!

The Three Best Ways to Ensure Failure

The three best ways to ensure failure are to feel sorry for yourself, focus on what you don’t have and give up.

Join us for a quick look at the story of Gideon where we’ll see these things in action and how God combats them. It’s three minutes that will change your day and maybe even your life.

Total Failure…

I was driving down the road a couple days ago when I saw one of those novelty license plates on the car in front of me. My 47 year old eyes couldn’t make out what the top line said but the bottom line said “Initial Success or Total Failure.” My first thought was, “How sad. This poor person must live with fear or failure every day.” That thought may have been judgmental because as he pulled up to the traffic light, I was able to read the top line. It said, “Bomb Technician.” He is right. In his line of work, success is a necessity every time, because you can’t come back from failure.

I’m guessing it’s not the same in your line of work. For most of us failure is not just inevitable, it’s necessary. The only people who never fail are God, Jesus and people who never try anything. Almost every great success is born like a phoenix from the ashes of a multitude of failures. Don’t fear failure, learn from it, grow from it. If you try often you will most likely fail often, but you won’t ever do anything great, you won’t live your God-given purpose without trying. Maybe we need to come up with a new word for these intermediate failures. Perhaps pre-successes.

A failure’s not a failure unless you quit and fail to try again.

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
Judges 21; 1 Samuel 1; 1 Timothy 1
You can also download your own chart here.