Often we think of heroes and their courageous acts in grand, cinematic terms. The “good guy” sweeps in and rescues those in peril. There’s no failure. There’s often no sign of fear. But this isn’t reality and it isn’t how things work for most of us.

True heroes are the ones who are sometimes afraid, but they keep going despite that negative voice in the back of their heads telling them they can’t possibly succeed. True heroes are those who make mistakes, fail, fall short, and then get out of bed the next day and try again. That’s where true courage lies and heroes are made.

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”
-Mary Anne Radmacher-

Don’t be afraid to fail

Don’t be afraid to fail. Failure is permanent only when you stop trying. You are not expected to be a great person who does great things all the time. You are only asked to be a good person who does their best. Be someone who gets up and tries again tomorrow.

The next time you’re confronted with failure or feel yourself becoming overwhelmed by fear, focus on your goal and keep going. Don’t stop. That’s what matters. If you fall short, if you fail, simply go to bed and when you wake up, try again tomorrow.

Give yourself a break

If you are struggling, take a physical or mental break. Sometimes the pressure of accomplishing a goal all at once can mean we fail or perceive ourselves as failures. This is never helpful.

Maybe what you need to overcome a hurdle is to take a week, a day, an hour, a moment off from whatever it is you are so focused on. The time away could be what you need to return refreshed and with a new perspective or bout of energy.

A mental break may also be in order. Extend to yourself the same kind of grace and compassion you would to a friend who is struggling. Give yourself permission to fail and forgive yourself when you fall short of a goal.

Be flexible

Sometimes things don’t go according to plan. This isn’t a sign of failure. It is simply an opportunity to reassess, an attempt to learn and relearn again and again. When you fail, think of it as a chance to gain new information and learn something you may not have known before.

Take each failure as a sign that you are trying. Give yourself credit for making the attempt in the first place. Then sleep on it, and try again tomorrow using the new information you just gained.

Ask for help

The most successful people will be the first to admit that they haven’t achieved their success alone. We all need help. When you feel like you’ve failed and your hope is wavering, look for that hope in others. Seek for support. Reach out to a network of family, friends, and professionals who can provide you with the advice, perspective, wisdom, accountability, energy that you need.

Consider hiring a life coach. (Check out our amazing life coaches here.) Any one of our professional coaches can assist you in identifying your goal, creating a plan of action, and maintaining the necessary momentum you need to achieve that goal. A life coach is the perfect partner to help remind you when you fail that you can always go to bed and try again tomorrow.

No matter how committed, talented, brave, and brilliant you may be, you will fail. At some point, everybody does. Don’t judge your success on any one of your failures. There is still an opportunity for you to be the hero you are destined to be. Instead of focusing on where you fell short, don’t be afraid of the failure. Look at it as an opportunity to learn something new, give yourself a break, be flexible, and ask for help.

Then go to bed… and try again tomorrow. We know you can do it!