The Gifts of Failure for Creators and Entrepreneurs

Shawn Fink
2 min readApr 10, 2023

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When we open our eyes and see the whole picture — maybe a week later, or a month later, or a few years later — we see that it was our failures that led us to the path we are on right now.

I’ve been thinking a lot about The Gifts of Failure, which is a big part of my work as a business strategist.

We won’t know until you go for it.

This is not sexy work.

It doesn’t fly off the shelves like GET 1000 SUBSCRIBERS EVERY DAY WITH THIS FORMULA!!!!!

No, the truth is building a sustainable business that centers YOUR thriving and YOUR values requires a lot of testing, failure and trying again.

That means we’re taking the long way around — which happens to be my absolute favorite way.

In my own business, every single failure has acted like a compass to get me back on track to my own sacred success.

This is one of the Gifts of Failure.

Sure, it’s also excruciating because failure requires patience.

Ugh. Patience! None of us have time for that.

I get it.

But what if every failure is a realignment, getting you back to what matters most? What if every failure is actually the marrow of your inner strength that will carry you to your next level? What if each failure is an opportunity to test and try again and expand even your own imagination of possibility?

I don’t have a lot of experience with failure, personally. I’ve oddly succeeded at most everything I ever set out to do.

But, I recently failed at something and rather than see it as a failure, I’m seeing it as a practice.

I bet you don’t fail that often either.

And that needs to change.

💥 If we aren’t failing, we aren’t risking.

💥 If we aren’t failing, we aren’t testing enough.

💥 If we aren’t failing, we aren’t saying enough Brave YESES.

What would happen if we collectively began to embrace the gifts of failure?

What could it teach us about ourselves — and the world?

What could you try — and possibly fail at — this week? I want to hear about it!

Originally published at https://shawnfink.com on April 10, 2023.

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Shawn Fink
Shawn Fink

Written by Shawn Fink

I help wholehearted entrepreneurs be #BusinessBrave and start taking up more space and running your biz on your terms.

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