{"id":28315,"date":"2015-01-16T05:00:37","date_gmt":"2015-01-16T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=28315"},"modified":"2015-01-16T05:00:37","modified_gmt":"2015-01-16T11:00:37","slug":"learned-last-years-failures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/learned-last-years-failures\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Major Mistakes I Haven\u2019t Shared Until Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

People often look at my success and assume I haven\u2019t had any failures. Excuse me while I laugh. Have you seen my recent blooper reel<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n

The truth is I have experienced plenty<\/em> of failure. And many are a lot worse than a flubbed line. I just don\u2019t usually publicize them.<\/p>\n

Here are three failures, just from last year:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Batch releasing my podcast.<\/strong> I thought people would love this<\/a>. They could binge-listen to my show, just like Netflix, right?\n

    As it turns out, not so much. Yes, I had a few hundred fans do this, but it\u2019s barely worth the effort. I doubt it is something I will continue.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. Best Year Ever<\/em> launch video.<\/strong> I work with one of the premier video production teams<\/a> on the planet. But when it came time for the main launch video for 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever<\/a><\/em> I just couldn\u2019t get it right.\n

    We had to shoot it three separate times to hit the level of quality we are committed to. But that wasn\u2019t our biggest Best Year Ever<\/em> setback\u2014not by a long shot.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. Best Year Ever<\/em> Leaders Edition.<\/strong> Our overall launch was hugely successful. We literally quadrupled our sales from last year. However, one piece never got off the ground at all.\n

    We shot three videos for a special Leaders Edition.<\/em> But I wasn\u2019t happy with the results, so we scrapped them. We then rebuilt the entire course from the ground up, but I still wasn\u2019t happy with the final product, so we scrapped that, too.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Then were dozens of other mistakes, too, most of which we recovered from. But still, across the board, these mistakes represented a significant negative impact on my business\u2014not only in expense and burden on my team, but also in lost revenue.<\/p>\n

    If you\u2019ve ever had a product slip or not ship at all, you know what a massive face-palm it can be. But still, in spite of these failures\u2014or maybe because of them\u2014we managed to double our revenues and profit for the year.<\/p>\n

    But while failure, mistakes, and bloopers are inevitable for all of us, we can choose to respond in ways that help us on the road to success. Here are six steps for making sure your failures move you forward.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Acknowledge the failure.<\/strong> There\u2019s no point avoiding the obvious. The first step for processing failure is to admit our initiative, product, or promotion just didn\u2019t work. We have to be willing to say, \u201cNow that<\/em> was a failure.\u201d Rather than defending it, there\u2019s enormous freedom in simply declaring it.\n<\/li>\n
    2. \n

      Take responsibility for it.<\/strong> More then merely acknowledging it, we need to own up to our part in the failure. Blaming outside forces, including other people, might cushion the blow to our ego, but it won\u2019t let us get beyond what went wrong or what was missing. More importantly, it won\u2019t move us forward.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    3. \n

      Mourn it (if necessary).<\/strong> Some mistakes are simple things we can blow off\u2014like thirty-seven takes on a simple video. (I\u2019m not making that up.) But others are major emotional letdowns. There\u2019s nothing wrong with being real in the midst of a disappointment. Grieving is often a natural part of helping us get beyond a setback.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    4. \n

      Learn from it.<\/strong> Once we\u2019ve faced our failures for what they are, we can begin to analyze them for what went wrong and why. There\u2019s learning in the middle of every letdown. For example, I\u2019ve gone over the Leaders Edition<\/em> failure in my head a dozen times and now see several things I will do differently next year. I can hardly wait to get started!<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    5. \n

      Adjust your behavior.<\/strong> Learning leads to action. Whether it\u2019s retrying a video take in a different way or reworking a major product, once we learn from our mistakes we can act in ways that minimize or even leapfrog those problems going forward. In this sense failure always serves to make us better\u2014if we allow it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    6. \n

      Enter into the next project.<\/strong> Failure is part of life. But so is success. It just takes working through our setbacks and staying on the path. A process like this can reframe our failures so we see them as practice<\/em>\u2014and even the vital preparation\u2014for success. So what are you waiting for? Like I say in the blooper reel, a lot, \u201cLet\u2019s try that again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\t\t