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Episode 58: How Can I Celebrate a Failure?

podcast Feb 14, 2023

I’m often reminded about how I need to pause to celebrate accomplishments. But what if it’s been a season of near misses when it comes to accomplishments? How do I celebrate that?

Let’s talk about a reframe around celebration today. How celebration time is productive time. How missing that moment is detrimental to the mission. And how even failures are worth celebrating. Are you ready for that one? All of these “how tos” stem from a recent question I’ve been asked.

Reframe the Celebration…

  1. Celebration is productive time. If we don’t pause to look back and notice where we are, then our forward momentum can be unproductive. Celebration is productive time because it helps us make sure we’re on the right track. 
  2. Missing this moment is detrimental to the mission. Whether we hit or miss one of these smaller goals on our way doesn’t change the mission. Without the pause to stop and look at the compass, we can get off track.
  3. It’s worth it to celebrate those near misses.  Celebrating failures sort of feels like an oxymoron. We can celebrate near-misses. Because we can gain so much from those seasons. And that gain is worth celebrating. 

Three Questions To Gain From Failures or Accomplishments:

What do I need to let go of from this season?

When it comes to failures, we can carry into our next season unhelpful things that will actually hold us back from taking a risk or put us in a place to do a “pendulum” swing in our next season because we are over reacting to our last failure. Release those things in this past season that could hold you back. 

Which is: What did I learn in this season?

When we forget to “celebrate” the good and the bad we miss out on the learning that can happen in either season. Whether it was just a near miss or an utter failure, it is worth celebrating what we learned – or what we have gained in this season. 

What do I want to take from this last season into my next season? 

Noting what was gained in the former season will help you accelerate your next season. It’s like a building block and if you build on the good in the former things then the next season becomes stronger. 

It’s in the celebration of accomplishments as well as the near mission that we learn. In the layering of that learning you grow, your team grows and you will grow into your mission.          

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