Re-framing Failure

Coaching Tip:  Reframing Failure

Far too often we can be hard on ourselves for not meeting our goals or intentions. If you did not accomplish something on your list, it is only considered to be a failure if it is a goal, you still want to achieve, one that is important for you to keep working at, but you choose to let it go instead. The journey to completing any goal is exactly that – a journey. It is a journey which often includes travelling along winding roads, up and down hills (usually steep ones!), through various weather conditions, climates, and terrains and in the end, it takes the time it takes. If you didn’t complete something on your list over the past year, ask yourself the following questions:

What was important to me about this goal when I decided to take it on?

What is most important to me now in relation to this goal?

What have I learnt so far? What has changed?

If I continue working towards this goal, what will it require of me? Who will I need to be?

If I decide to let it go now, what impact will that decision have on my life 5 or 10 years from now?

Having answered the above questions, it is time to decide: Do I want to continue working towards this goal in this new year or is it time to let it go?

While it may be tempting to ask the last question first, I recommend keeping it to the end. Thinking about your values and what is important to you will help you to make a more congruent decision about whether to keep at it, or to let it go.