I was trying to record a mental toughness tip but kept messing up the message. I wasted an entire day trying to get this message right.

Then…my self-talk went into the gutter: What a waste of time. I can’t even deliver a 30 second mental toughness tip to my followers. It’s exhausting pumping out these videos.  No one cares. No one watches them.

But wait. It got worse: I’m a failure. Why bother being a coach? I’m not making the impact I dream of making. I feel like quitting.

Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever screwed up, made so many mistakes on a project, and at the end of the day felt like such a failure that you wanted to quit?

Sure you have, IF YOU ARE IN THE ARENA EVERYDAY, fighting the good fight, taking action steps to reach your goals and dreams.

I have a question for you: When you mess something up are you really a “failure” or are you “failing forward?”

Was I really a “failure” when making this video or was I “failing forward”?

Watch my worst video ever and you be the judge.

I was able to create a powerful mental toughness tip from this mess. (Hmmmm…maybe nothing is ever a waste of time.)

“Failing forward” is a natural part to winning. Why? Because life is risky: the more you do, the more you are going to fail. So if you want to win you have to take risks, and you have to learn to “fail forward”.

Try this as your mantra: Get up. Get over it. Get going.

For decades I sat on the sidelines (complaining of course), watching others succeed and wondering why I wasn’t. I’d never heard of the concept “failing forward”. I was too busy going through life being careful, afraid to try something new for fear of looking stupid or making mistakes. I was never in the arena.

Today I have failed millions of times. And I will fail a million more times. And I will embarrass myself, look dumb and want to quit.

But all my many failures have gotten me some pretty cool wins.

Are you making mistakes, blowing it, messing up, getting discouraged, wanting to quit, feeling less than? Congratulations. You are in the arena duking it out every day.

Fail fast. Fail often. Fail forward.