When Failure Becomes Fuel

In four years of moderating the 5AM Call, I have never made the mistake I’ve always feared – missing the call.

At least, up until this week. 

On Monday morning, I completely dropped the ball. I overslept, waking up at 5:39 am – 39 minutes after I was supposed to start off the week moderating a call that starts my own morning routine – as well as the entire group of people who call in every day. 

Convenient Excuses don’t Help

After my initial anger and disappointment, I had to reflect on what happened. Why did I oversleep? Why did I put myself in that position? There are, of course, the convenient excuses: 

I have too much going on. I didn’t hear my alarm. I wasn’t fully prepared. 

The truth is, everybody has a lot going on right now. Everybody has days when they oversleep.  I could leave it at that and continue about my day. But that mindset doesn’t foster growth. 

Learn from Your Micro Failures 

When we experience these types of micro failures, people often fall into one of two categories: they either brush it off as no big deal, or they beat themselves up over it. Neither is helpful for moving forward. So, what can we do instead?

• Apologize. When necessary, apologize to the people your mistake affected. Instead of offering excuses, take responsibility for what happened, and give your sincere apologies.
• Close loops. When there is too much happening, whether it’s projects, conversations, or lingering decisions, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Finishing deals gives you motivation and energy to tackle whatever is next. Determine what you can finalize today, and check those items off your list. 
• Learn from your mistakes. Reflect on what happened, and take that learning to become a better version of yourself. Small, incremental gains every day add up to big results. 
• Focus on the bigger picture. We are all going after something great. Instead of dwelling on a mishap, take what you’ve learned and use that as fuel to reach your goals. 

We can’t dwell on micro failures; we have to own it and accept it. 

Ultimately, my mission is to be better today than I was yesterday. It’s to continue to learn and carry my experiences forward. 

Failures give me the fuel to do that.