Greetings Horton-heads!

Failure - It’s just a word. A silly word that confuses the user. I think failure rocks! It means you’re doing something. There’s no reason to shy away from it, or try to avoid it. All “failures" are opportunities to improve. Failure means you’re doing something right, as long as you’re learning from it. 

In my opinion, failure needs a new name;

How about "AWESOME OR POWERFUL"

The word itself denotes absolute defeat or collapse; that’s not what happens when you don’t lose the weight, slip up and eat at McDonald's, or can’t do as many pull-ups as you were hoping for. Those moments are not failures, they're small motivational setbacks. Failure and success are Siamese twins, with one heart and brain. They don't exist without each other. If you're not failing a little, it means you are not stepping up, taking chances, putting yourself out there, and opening yourself up to the Big Picture.

Winston Churchill said, "Success consists of going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm." Brilliant! One issue with the word failure is it can make us feel like a loser, or that we ARE a failure, versus the line of thinking that we merely had a setback at our attempt to do something, which is not a reason to give up! Setbacks are our opportunity to learn, better ourselves, move forward, or take action to do it a bit differently, but more importantly to keep trying. 

Many people would rather play it safe, not take chances, not explore, not stick their neck out, or put themselves in a situation where they could possibly fail/ learn/ grow/ LIVE! Take it from me; I was someone who played it safe for much of my life. And what did it get me? Next to nothing. I said “NO" to everything, which led to NO adventure. NO experience. NO learning. NO real successes in life.

When I took the chance with P90 eighteen years ago, I didn't know if it would succeed or fail, but I worked like hell, had a few setbacks, and did my best. I was lucky to have people who believed in me, and supported me. There were dozens of naysayers scoffing, “Another exercise program, especially an extreme one being sold through an infomercial? That will never work.” Things turned out pretty well in the end, and we’re still going strong. 

If you're afraid to fail, you will never open yourself up to opportunities for success. Failure is the key to joy, happiness, and personal growth. If you view failure as AWESOME, or POWERFUL instead, then you will be open to doing new things. You might make mistakes, screw up, or fall flat on your face, but at least you were in the middle of the action and not sitting on the sidelines.

Your ego might tell you not to get up again, but that's only because your ego wants you to think it has everything under control. That’s how it keeps its identity. But, you and I both know that we have the power to choose a different way of looking at awesome and powerful setbacks, and not let our self-image run the show. It's time to use the ego as an AWESOME and POWERFUL servant, instead of letting it be the master of your life.

So next time you feel afraid to fail, push forward and enjoy the whole ride. You might fall and get banged up a bit, but you can always get back up, wipe yourself off, and keep moving forward. That’s not failing, it’s living.

Until next time...T-Horton