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​A Friendly Invitation to Learning by Failure

27/9/2015

2 Comments

 
Failure counts as done. So do mistakes. Seth Godin

I hate to fail. I expect you do too. But when not failing, becomes not trying, we're on dangerous ground.

It's all too easy to let our fear of failure become an excuse for never stepping out of our comfort zone. In order to get out of this kind of vicious cycle, we need to get a clear handle on how we view failure - and then look at ways to reframe it.

​This week I've been asking myself questions like:
  • What might I try if I wasn't afraid to fail?
  • Am I disguising fear of failure in perfectionism?
  • What if I reframe failure as 'testing', 'experimenting' or 'learning'?
  • Can I release more meaningful work into the world, if it doesn't have to be perfect or 'complete'?
With something like an eBook, I can release a version that isn't perfect and then improve it as I go along. But even with my artwork, I return to the same ideas over and over - as most artists do.

So if I don't perfectly encapsulate an idea first time round...? 
​

What questions might you ask yourself about failure?

© Author: Cherry Jeffs



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2 Comments
Adrienn Ecsedi link
4/10/2015 09:47:26 pm

You have asked such great questions from yourself!

For me it is not failure that usually comes up but I see the artwork itself as a giant thing that needs tremendous hours to finish. In reality it doesn't need that much time but just because I see it that way, it can paralyze me.

I know now that if I just focus on painting one thing on the picture like a tree, the base color of the dress then it is more manageable and I enjoy painting better too.

Reply
Cherry Jeffs
5/10/2015 08:24:51 pm

You're so right Adrienn - the key is just to start by telling yourself you'll just do something small and usually, before you know it, you've completed that and moved onto another bit of the painting without realising :)

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