I hate the word failure.
And I'm someone who has applied that word to my work many times. Don't get me wrong: I'm not sitting high on the hill trying to beam wisdom down to followers. I'm not qualified! I struggle, I push, I find myself in corners emotionally, I often feel lost without a compass.
And I used to feel like a failure.
But as I built this website over the years, and as I started to look back at all the micro-businesses and project I started, I felt the pride of creation.
Some would look at my list of businesses, and seeing that 90% of them are not active, would say I failed.
Bullshit!
I built. I created from scratch. I learned so much. And everything I've ever built has taught me something, something that feeds into the creation of another business or project.
Failure, in other words, doesn't exist as long as you are going in the forward direction and you keep creating, challenging, and evolving.
With this attitude, opportunities abound. I can look back at Dreamcatchers Photography or some of my current photography work and have confidence of picking it up again in the future.
In March of 2020 when the COVID pandemic hit the world, it was the understanding of website design and wine education that led directly to the 96 hour creation of The Wine Workshop.
And when I glance at little itty bitty ideas that I had hopes would become big (see Minnesota Flavor) I learned about strategic planning and how to work better with people when you're depending on them.
In my personal life, the only times I'd put the word "failure" on it was when I stood still. When I got too comfortable. And when I didn't ask for help. But even then it's too harsh a word, because I learned from my mistakes.
Wipe the word failure from your lexicon. Learn from perceived mistakes. They are some of the most important inflection points of growth in life.