Andra Weber Creative
Design & Creative Development
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Create & Change

Posts tagged failures
Day 341 - Yes, You Are Going To Fail.

Hey, Friends. Let's start this Monday with a self-realization. I have been creating this blog now for 341 days. I am just 24 days away from meeting my goal of creating every day for a year. In just a few short weeks, I will be able to reflect on a year of building and learning. Stay tuned.

In the meantime,  I can tell you that by any measure, I am still doing it wrong. In all respects, I'm failing at the following: coercing followers, making revenue, telling the authentic daily story and most importantly making the change I want to see in the world.

However, it's important to note that when we stand back and look at the things we create in our lives, it's the process that is important. Maybe you know someone who is always successful. If we all could get a peek into their playback, they too had a lot of moments when they did it wrong. They failed, stumbled, and felt their way through the dark too. When we are failing, there is an opportunity to be better, different and more interesting. When are succeeding, we don't get a chance to transform. In short, failing leads to opportunity.

Today's project is to create opportunity today. Go start something on your bucket list and when you fail, keep going. Just remember if you are being yourself, no one can tell you, you are doing it wrong.

Until tomorrow.

Day 191 - Feeling Salty.

Hey you. Today's project is in the garbage and I'm feeling salty. Everything about today's post failed. It was a big hot mess, literally. After dreaming of old vacation trips to the ocean, I started to remember salt water taffy. The little chewy, colorful gems always brought such happiness to summer. Today, I decided to make vintage salt water taffy. I thought it might be a great way to create and celebrate summer. Yeah, I was totally wrong.

The recipe failed. No, wait, rather, I failed the recipe. Today's project started out innocent and hopeful as I carefully measured out the sugar. I dutifully watched the candy thermometer go up to 250 degrees. Like a pro, I whisked in drops of flavor. Pouring the liquid candy gently and mindfully into the buttered pan, I smiled at the dreamy blog post ahead. Gloating to my assistant, we were going to make the best salt water taffy ever. The 15 minute timer was set to let the candy cool. I was dreaming of the millions of followers that would subscribe to this blog due to this magnificent project. I might even be asked on a daytime talk show to demo this recipe. Then the timer went off.

At that point, the recipe called for "pulling" the taffy for 20 minutes. The directions said to first push the taffy into a ball. When I touched the warm taffy goop, it became apparent that it wasn't the consistency of salt water taffy. It was sticky slime. Did I give up hope and throw in the towel? No! I kept telling myself, "Maybe if I push it around more it will set up." Oh, no. At this point, I am desperately trying to salvage this project. I call over my assistant and she goes crazy trying to pull the goop together. The mess goes everywhere and I realize I have botched this project. The dreamy vintage salt water taffy is a goopy, fat fail.

After going back through the recipe, it became apparent that I made one stupid mistake. I read the thermometer wrong. More importantly, I learned that sometimes we are going to make stupid mistakes that will cost us time, money and chances. It's just how it is.

Maybe If We Push It Around More It Will Start To Look Like Taffy?

Maybe If We Push It Around More It Will Start To Look Like Taffy?

Today's project is to look back on past failures and jot down how you will do things differently in the future. How will you recognize when to say something is a sunk cost? How will you move forward when things fail? Create a strategy to make failures into opportunities. 

As for me, I am going to slow down a bit. More importantly, I am going to tell myself sometimes life is just a big pile of goop. What we create from the goop is key to making better goop in the future. See you tomorrow salty dogs!