I’m a pretty good cook. Not a master chef, but a decent cook. I have the ability to use whatever’s left in our near-empty cupboards and fridge at the end of the month to whip up something delicious. It may not look like a Michelin Star dish, but it usually tastes pretty good.

Until that is, I made beetroot soup. What a disaster. Our neighbour gave us a few of her last beetroots of the season and I thought I’d have a go at making something different with them – I was in the mood for soup and having only the week before made a delicious butternut soup, assumed it would be easy enough.

I think the leeks ruined it. I used two leeks, when I should probably only have used one, maybe even half. It tasted awful and in order to get rid of the bitter taste, I added potatoes but, they didn’t help either. I added salt, and herbs and carrots and the taste still didn’t improve. After two days of trying to fix my beetroot soup, I surrendered and threw it all away. What a waste. What an epic fail.

Looking back at 2016, have you failed at something you’re usually quite good at? Perhaps you consider it your strength or your talent and now your confidence has been shaken and you’re nervous to venture out and try again.

I think it’ll be a while before I have a go at making beetroot soup again. I will try though and, in the meantime, I’ve learnt a few lessons from my disastrous fail:

  • Choose to stay positive by looking at your failure through the eyes of learning. Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Be humble enough to expect to fail on your path to learning and growth.
  • Own Your Fail. Rather than blame someone or something else, take ownership of the mistakes you made and learn from them.
  • Bounce Back. Don’t stay stagnant by wallowing in self-pity. Learn the lesson and move on.
  • Face Your Fear. When we genuinely believe that failure can help us grow, we can have the confidence we need to move forward and try again. Corrie ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength”.

Consider where you failed this year, learn the lessons, grow, make the changes you need to make and then try again.