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What do you do after you fail?

By Becky McCray

I heard these thoughts about failure on Twitter today, and wanted to share them with you, too.

It may help to know that Twitter is a messaging system, with a 140 character limit on message size and rather informal. You’ll find me there, too. These are unedited, just as they appeared. I bolded a few favorites.

ChrisBrogan: What do you do after you fail?

ChrisCree: I get back up! (Oh, sure I might wallow for a bit. But I don’t stay down for long.)

Graydancer: You just keep going. Everything else does, after all. Inching along.

MMcAllen: I usually retreat and regroup then attack from a different formation or position.

douge: Experiencing failure is what drives you to win.


Pistachio: fail again as soon & enthusiastically as possible, until it works. ok that’s what i WANT to do, not always goes that way

guy_david: After I fail, I stop to access. If there’s another way, I try it. If there is no other way, I move on to something else.

KevinKS: I don’t fail. I “conclude a learning experience.”

dotboom: After I fail, I try to succeed at something larger, and even more improbably.

Randelaw: you mean once the nightmare is finally over? Determine the errors in judgement and vow not to commit them again

ChelPixie: if I fail I look to make sure I can’t fix it, absorb, take a deep breath and move on.

Vaspers: we have nothing to fear but success (i.e. scaling) itself. Then again, I’m a Zero Defects perfectionist. Fail = an experiment

Chuckumentary: I failed repeatedly all week. I just knew Friday the 13th would turn my luck around. I get PO’d when I fail, but channel it…?


misc: *after* i fail? you’re assuming i’ve stopped!


geosteph: about 14 years ago I ‘failed’ my Ph.D program in geology…and found my perfect career! so far living very happily ever after!


Mobasoft: Failure is only an opinion – typically one which is given by those who are weak in spirit and drive.

andreamercado: post-mortem the problem, learn from mistakes, try again. :)

mochant: when I was a ski instructor I told students that if you didn’t have one great wipeout each day you weren’t trying hard enuf.

guy_david: After moving to something else, I sometimes come back and see it in a different perspective.

ConnieReece: sometimes learning how NOT to do something is an invaluable prelude to figuring out the right way.
ConnieReece: Thomas Edison did not get discouraged when experiments failed because each failure brought him one step closer to an invention that worked.

timcoyne: as an actor/writer in LA, “failure” is a constant. the biggest danger is getting used to failure. tricky balance.

ChrisBrogan: Follow-up question: do you know when to quit? Do you know when to call the whole thing off?


ChelPixie: No I don’t know when to quit. Let’s just say I like to fix things. It takes me a while to give up on something as lost.

GrayDancer: of course I know when I should quit. Usually it’s a small-but-significant time before I actually do…

BassGhost: when I run out of alternate approaches.

KevinKS: “fail” quickly and with thanks, then get onto the next attempt.

goodthingscomin I learn a lesson from failing. I adjust future endeavors. Quitting is something I have a hrd time with. But again, I’m learning

misc: as for quitting, as i was telling chelpixie earlier, i plan to throw in my towels as soon as i can procure a big enough hamper.

If you like those, read more of our series on failure.

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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
  • Zoom Towns: attracting and supporting remote workers in rural small towns - December 10, 2020
  • In an economic crisis, spend your brainpower before your dollars - November 25, 2020
  • Video: How to fill empty car dealership buildings for the holidays - November 6, 2020
  • How has 2020 changed the challenges rural small towns face? Tell us here - October 20, 2020
  • The Idea Friendly Method to surviving a business crisis - October 6, 2020
  • Join me for the Rural Renewal Symposium online Oct 13 - September 26, 2020
  • Cheap placemaking idea: instant murals - September 11, 2020
  • Refilling the rural business pipeline - July 7, 2020
  • Huge vacant buildings: grants to renovate? - June 9, 2020
  • Economic self defense for small towns  - June 7, 2020

July 13, 2007 Filed Under: failure, success

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Comments

  1. steven edward streight says

    July 13, 2007 at 6:23 pm

    busy adding every Twitterer here as a Friend to follow.

    http://twitter.com/vaspers
    http://pownce.com/vaspers
    http://newreformedinsane.ning.com

  2. Marti says

    July 13, 2007 at 6:55 pm

    This is a WONDERFUL post, and great responses! Thanks to all for sharing!

    (If anyone wants to add me, I am “Marti_L” at twitter.)

  3. Becky McCray says

    July 13, 2007 at 6:57 pm

    Proof that Twitter can add value!

    Thanks, Vaspers and Marti!

  4. Connie Reece says

    July 14, 2007 at 5:14 am

    Beck, I love the way you compiled all our responses and put them in one place. Great mashup of Twitter and your blog. Thanks!

  5. Chris Brogan says

    July 14, 2007 at 6:17 pm

    Wow! I think you’ve really invented a valuable product here. Obviously, it’s human intensive, but it’s like plucking a fully formed blog post out of thin air. : )

    Brilliant.

  6. Becky McCray says

    July 14, 2007 at 6:22 pm

    I thought you invented it, Chris!

  7. Becky McCray says

    February 17, 2009 at 11:49 pm

    Later, in December, Chris asked Twitter about failure again. You’ll find it at his Tumblr blog:
    I asked Twitter about managing failure

Trackbacks

  1. Business advice from Twitter-heads says:
    April 19, 2013 at 4:15 pm

    […] What do you do after you fail? […]

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