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So here’s a question for you: What’s been your most epic failure?
Yeah right, I’m sure you’re REALLY excited about sharing THAT.
But here’s the thing.
Looking backwards, our epic failures are our most powerful stories.
Falling from grace. Crawling back up. Redemption.
It’s the perfect story arc, even if living through it earned you some serious dents and dings.
Take my consultant pal “Victor” who was catching me up on his business last week.
He was coming off what he described as a bloodbath—a business foray that turned deadly ugly and cost him just shy of a half million bucks.
And yet as he shared the painful particulars with me, he was as energized and focused as I’d ever experienced him.
Articulate and warm, he spoke powerfully from his deepest wisdom.
With humility, he owned his mistakes in the process and he’d had enough reflection time to even see the humor in it (which is part of his charm).
But he wasn’t calling me to wallow.
Quite the contrary—he was describing the journey from there to where he is right now: owner of a brand-spanking new idea with a plan he was already executing to carve out his niche of a booming marketplace.
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As we finished up, I congratulated him on getting through his epic failure and positioning himself for his next big win.
And he—a bit puzzled I think—said he’d failed and that was that, on to his next attempt.
So I reminded him that he had indeed walked away with a spectacular asset from this whole experience beyond his own learning: the stories he now can tell about it.
Because Victor was perfectly clear about what went wrong and why.
Which means he can now bring that story into every future business and client experience.
And not just because it marked him.
But because now he’s been to the dark side AND lived to tell the tale.
It’s given him gravitas.
And it will build trust with his closest clients and allies and become part of his legend.
So yes, an epic failure just might be your turning point.