One of my clients was about to open the next stage of their business when the local council stepped in and stopped them from opening as the business did not comply with council regulations.

In my subsequent conversation with the client, they felt like a failure for not understanding the council regulations.   This led to a discussion about differentiating between the concepts of failing and failure.

Whilst the two concepts are closely related, there is a meaningful distinction between the two.

In business + life, we repeatedly fail, whether we lose a game where there is only one winner, falling short of our goals or failing to meet the expectations of our clients.

However, failure is different from failing.  Failure comes when we stop trying after we fail; it is when we do not pick ourselves up and continue to work towards our goals.  Failure is when we give in to fear and self-doubt and use that as an excuse to not even show up the next time around.

During the conversation, I reminded my client of the following quote by US President Richard Nixon:

“Failure isn’t falling down.  Failure is not getting up when you have fallen down.”

 I challenged my client to embrace the lessons learned from the experience with the council while at the same time using that experience as an opportunity to grow and improve.  To strive for progress not perfection.