What if failure is your norm?

I spoke at an amazing conference for artists this weekend (Self Employment in the Arts Conference check it out!). And one theme that came up again and again was failure. Having a book idea rejected for years, having projects flop, being told you aren't talented, being fired from jobs, working the wrong jobs...again and again people told stories of "failure". 

So why continue? Why keep pursuing your dream if it doesn't seem to be going anywhere? 

Because failure doesn't mean impossible. Failure doesn't mean you were wrong. Failure doesn't mean you were stupid. Failure doesn't mean you're not talented. Failure isn't failure unless you see it that way. Failure is your guiding light. Failure is the sign you need to course correct. Failure is the voice of the Universe saying I see you trying, try again, try better, try your best, you're still learning. You're still moving. Keep it going. 

Entrepreneurs don't play it safe. Risk is an inherent part of what we do. We're not business warriors because we get everything right, we're lifelong, dedicated, committed, going to try until we die, warriors for the truth. We fight for what we believe is going to change people's lives. We fight to find the story inside of us that will resonate with a generation. We fight for the art that will inspire a nation. We fight to find our own biggest struggles, bring them to light, find innovative solutions and share them so others can benefit. 

We fail and we fail and we fail. And we succeed. And it pays off. And we hold our visions tightly. And we hone our crafts. And we expand ourselves until we are doing what no one thought we were capable of. We stretch our minds, we travel the globe looking for our tribe, we outgrow our beliefs that say you're a failure, and we go beyond to the bigger picture, to the great unknown, to try new things, new platforms, new ideas, new movements that have never existed before. And we keep moving. We keep going. 

We're entrepreneurs. We're artists. We're scientists of failure and we're researching our capacity to change the formula and find a new answer. We're warriors of business. We're lovers of risk. We're failures until we decide that we're not.