Let E-Go and Accept Failure

We must learn to let our egos die. Yes, we must embrace courageous actions that include accepting failure and rejecting foolish pride. In TD Jakes's book Destiny: Step Into Your Purpose, he writes we must interpret failure as an incident and not a conviction on the value of your life.

I know admitting failure is difficult. It is challenging to acknowledge that sometimes working hard is not enough. We can put in an insane amount of effort and still fall short of our goals.

Lasting achievements rely on multiple factors. We need competent teachers, a strong work ethic, a positive mindset with realistic expectations, some luck, a lot of faith, integrity, and divine help. While there are some aspects of achievement that we can control, there also exist others we cannot.

Racial, gender, sexual, and other identities continue to influence opportunities at systemic and individual levels in our society. Social constructs often impact our belief systems and the resources available to achieve our goals. Our failures can serve as teachable moments to use our identities as assets to help us make the most of our talents, skills, and abilities.

Students, entrepreneurs, and employees do not like to acknowledge failures. My university students hate to tell their classmates when they do not pass an exam. Some entrepreneurs will pour every possible resource into products that do not sell. Employees who fail on the job are afraid to admit their mistakes to their supervisors.

Allow me to use a personal business example.

In 2015, I began to offer Capoeira instructional videos through my site and on Vimeo. I advertised the videos like a mad person to my students and via social media. In 2016, I uploaded 365 videos to YouTube intending to bring others to my product. It flopped.

After years of consistent marketing the six hours of instructional content, the product failed. It only made 500 USD in sales. I put in countless hours recording the footage, editing the content, and advertising samples. It is difficult to accept that the time and energy invested in this product added up to one big failure.

Through this process of pushing my Capoeira instructional videos, I learned how integral community is to Capoeira. People who train Capoeira value the relationships formed in classes. They often develop deep loyalties to their teachers and other students.

Virtual communities and solo training have limitations. While it is essential to train Capoeira's movements and music outside of class, many students drive to improve when training alongside others. Interactions can build special relationships, strengthen physical reflexes, and stretch self-imposed boundaries.

As leaders, we must acknowledge our failures and keep it moving to what’s next. We must be willing to see our failures, learn from them, and then work toward making improvements.

Learning from failures and letting go of our egos is not easy, but necessary to earn lasting successes aligned with the divine callings for our lives.

Explore more of how failures can shape you into the person you want to be with my course, Personal Development 100: Frequency. The updated course bundle includes nine brief and meaningful lectures, quizzes to test your comprehension, an ebook written to help you discover your purpose, and fifteen of the basic Capoeira instructional videos discussed in this post!

Enroll now by clicking here.

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