Growing up in my blue-collar family it was always pressed to do my best and do it perfectly. I am also a “one” on the Enneagram so I naturally trying to make things better and as close to perfect as possible. I was devastated when I got into college and my best would however only generate B’s and C’s. Highschool was easy to obtain A’s, but college was a whole different ball game.
I was failing to get A’s and I was pissed off and angry throughout college. I graduated with an electrical engineering degree and had a great job right out of college, but I always looked back that I was not perfect in college. It left a feeling that I was not good enough back then. When I jumped into a career of sales the same thing happened. I kept getting knocked down and was not perfect at it right out of the gate.
In reality no one is totally perfect. We all have flaws. No one can do everything perfect the first time either. What we do is Fail Forward Fast. Fail Forward Fast is a phrase that navy seal operators use quite often in training.
Navy seals as I was taught by my mentor are okay with set-backs. Fail Forward Fast works like this. Apply action -> review -> apply action for a constant loop for improvement of whatever the situation is. Failure is not about having set-backs, failure is totally giving up.
It’s okay to have a set back and learn from it so that when you are attacking the same activity the next time you move through it more efficiently. The cool part is that the action does not have to be a massive game changer. It is small incremental adjustments as you go through the loop.
Another benefit from this small action is that doubt is eliminated through action. Figuring out the next small step will keep doubt from tackling us from behind and stopping us from moving forward in our process. How awesome is that! A small step of action puts doubt on its butt and allows us to move forward.
Do you remember riding a bike without training wheels for the first time? Most of us as children would fall, get back on the bike and moved a little farther, fall again, get back on the bike and moved farther and farther each time until we were riding the bike without assistance from anyone. It took a progression and learning how to balance while pedaling and occasionally stopping before running into something. It is rare for someone to just jump on a bike for the first time and get it perfect.
I love the Fail Forward Fast because when I am working on a project and the “Have to be perfect” phase pops in my head, and I am able to remind myself that it is okay not to be perfect. Sometimes I also find out that the desired outcome that I had was not the one I needed to be shooting for. I am able to pivot towards the better desired outcome instead of coming to the end of the experience and learning that I am nowhere near where I truly need to be.
Fail Forward Fast is essential in all growth and I have applied it to my life so that I can keep going when tough times happen. Sometimes we just need to focus on one small step at a time to keep moving forward instead of looking at the long path that is ahead of us.
When thinking about 2020 on how it crushed many goals that we had, remember that making small adjustments and moving forward is what we truly need. 2021 has no guarantees that we will be successful, but if we keep moving forward with those small steps we will grow and hit our goals that we actually need, and possibly the goals that we didn’t know we actually should have been shooting for in the first place.
Have a great 2021 everyone!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom