Shopbop mustard top and levi's Outfit from shopbop

It’s been about a month since I started my Happiness Project 2018 on Instagram, and it’s been going really well! I’ve never been more conscious about my thoughts, and it’s also led to incorporating more gratitude into my life, mindfulness, and intention and purpose with my content.

It’s also been about the same amount of time since I ordered Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project (one of the very first steps I took on my journey to everlasting happiness LOL). However, I have a big confession to make: I have not yet cracked the book open! Nope, haven’t even read the first page…or the forward, or the table of contents, for that matter! *slaps palm to face*

Bad, I know! But, in my defence, reading for leisure: a) has always been difficult for me to commit to, and b) has always given way to other more pressing matters. Nevertheless, I do plan to crack the book open, and I am committing to finishing it before the end of February. No excuses!

Okay, great. Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I’ll jump into the real purpose of this post. It’s not to fess up about failing to meet one of my goals for this month (I mean, that’s part of it). But instead, it’s to share the 2 realizations I’ve had coming out of this failure. And while I’m talking about a small failure here, this can obviously apply to any type of failure!

Mustard top and levi's from shopbop

1. Use the Failures of Yesterday to Fuel Your Achievements of Today and Tomorrow

Towards the end of last week, aside from not having started Happiness Project, I looked at my to-do list and saw there was so much on there that I hadn’t done. My initial instinct would have been to feel disappointed. But, I immediately stopped that propensity to feel down dead in its tracks and thought to myself, “Hey, next week, you’ll do even more than you did this week.”

Classic glass half full versus glass half empty kind of situation.

Use the failures of yesterday to fuel your achievements of today and tomorrow! (As far as I know and from what my quick Google searching has revealed, no one has ever used that phrase before. So, I’m gonna go ahead and claim that as a Krystle original)!

Right after that, I pondered, “Wouldn’t that be a nice thought to share with my community first thing on a Monday morning? Instead of starting next Monday feeling grumpy or disappointed about what you didn’t achieve last week, use it to motivate you to achieve even more this week!”. But then I thought that this could apply equally on any day of the week, and at any time! Which actually brings me to my next thought.

2. Just Start Somewhere!

So, this second realization is not a new one. I’ve actually been talking about this a lot in my Instagram stories and, in general, lately. But, it’s a good reminder for you guys, and for myself.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s January 1st or January 31st, a Monday or a Friday. You don’t have to start a new project, tackle a challenge, or finally jump into something you’ve been putting off for a while at the perfect or most logical time. Things don’t always have to align, go sequentially, or follow some sort of pre-determined order. The right time is anytime, and you really just have to start somewhere! Otherwise, you’ll allow yourself to use these timing issues as excuses to delay getting started in the first place.

Mustard top and levi's from shopbop Mustard top and levi's from shopbop Mustard top and levi's from shopbop

So, those are the two little lessons I learned from my recent failure to do something. Although my failure is not a life-shattering type of thing, I think these lessons can be applied to anything else, and I’m certainly going to keep them in mind the next time I fail at something or am disappointed in myself for not doing something.

How do you deal with failure? What lessons have you learned from it? Let me know in the comments below!

Photography by: Laura Clarke Photography

January 31, 2018
Leave a comment