The Evil Little Monster
Note: This is an article I wrote for my previous Substack Newsletter, 70+ Navigating Your Life. The information is relavant for all ages.
Here is an audio reading of the article by yours truly.
We all fall victim to that little voice that reminds us of our failures.
It is especially true as we get older.
That evil little voice is very effective. It causes so much self-doubt that we often miss exceptional opportunities.
You know the routine.
“You aren’t good enough.”
“You’ll only fail again.”
“Why even bother.”
And so on.
The problem is that we often believe that little monster’s voice.
We believe that voice even though it is only presenting one side of the story.
Have We Failed in the Past?
Yes. We have failed in the past. But we’ve had successes, too.
That evil little monster never points out our successes. It constantly works against you and steals from the joy in your life.
What can we do to combat that evil little monster?
I am confident that you have succeeded more than 80% of the time in your life. And your failures only account for less than 20%.
Don’t believe me? Try this.
Get a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. Label one side “Success” and the other side “Failures”.
Now, begin to list your successes. List everything, no matter how small or insignificant. Now, list your “perceived” failures.
“Perceived failure” is a curious term. I bring it up because your evil little monster will magnify the slightest failure into a monumental failure. It will take something simple and turn it into a weapon against you. Sadly, we let it.
Let’s get back to the paper.
If you are honest with yourself, you will see that your successes far outweigh your failures.
Now, could you go ahead and fold the paper in half? Then, tear it in two.
Throw away the side marked “Failures”.
Hang up the side marked “Successes” so that the next time the little monster returns, look at your successes and tell the evil little monster to go to hell.
But Failure Is Bad, Right?
There is a curious thing about failure. We have been taught to think of it as a negative. But it isn’t.
We can turn our failures into successes if we treat them as an opportunity to learn from them.
Here is an example of people who have achieved success despite the evil little monster in their heads:
Thomas Edison had a unique point of view on failure. He said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Edison viewed failed experiments as steps in the process of achieving success.
Col. Sanders was told “no” 1009 times when he was selling access to his recipe before someone said ‘YES”. Sanders did not see giving up as an option.
The Wright Brothers had many of their experimental aircraft fail before they had one that took flight. They evaluated what went wrong with each prototype and made adjustments. They learned from their failures.
These 3 examples show that failure is only the end of the story if you give up. Edison, Sanders, and the Wright brothers succeeded because they looked upon failure as a learning experience and part of the process of achieving success. They ignored their evil little monster.
What Can You Do?
Remember the side of the sheet that we kept? Make a journal documenting your daily successes.
Also, note the things you tried that didn’t work. Create a plan to try again until you turn the failure into a success.
Giving up too early is the act that separates you from achieving your success. Send your evil little monster packing by not giving up.
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The author created the graphics and audio recording used in this post.
© Thomas Dean.