The chance that the latest project you’ve dreamed up might not work is very high.
Every successful person alive can list dozens of “failed experiments” for every one that succeeded.
Where you want to take notice is in the aftermath of the project gone sideways.
Did it spur a new round of experimentation?
Or did it send people packing, never to return?
I recently conducted an experiment for my business with a business partner. We worked hard on setting up all the elements needed to execute it properly, logging many [unpaid] hours in preparation.
And while we received kind words of thanks from several people who participated in the [free] front end of the experiment, our main goal of converting leads into paying customers on the back end did not come to fruition as we had thought.
Kind words are great. But at the end of the day, sales have to be made to keep a business going.
This “failure” could have made us crumple. Less seasoned entrepreneurs would have.
But because we went into with eyes wide open, we approached the aftermath with an attitude of, Okay, so that didn’t go like we believed. What could we have done differently-better-more effectively so that next time, we get the results we’d like?
Small shift.
Big difference for shaping our next steps.
What’s cool about adopting a “this might not work” mindset is it allows expectations to be high about the project at hand, while simultaneously buffering against disappointment when things don’t turn out as imagined.
Which they will.
That’s actually a good thing.
Keep going anyway.
