What stands out to you in the following:

We can’t help ourselves. We point out the one that’s wrong. We zone in and shine a spotlight on one line. It doesn’t matter if we got every other one correct. We choose to focus all our attention on the one that’s wrong.

Albert Einstein used this sequence to show a simple and impactful message. Sometimes we find ourselves completely focused on a small failure as opposed to being able to see the overall success and accomplishments. The narrative we build in our minds can be heavily swayed by one mistake. We let this one outlier shape our story instead of zooming out and getting a holistic view. No matter how we perceive the significance of one moment, it does not provide the perspective of who we truly are. No one struggle or failure defines us.

There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging the mistake and feeling the pain or disappointment that comes with this failure. The last thing we want to do is completely ignore the emotion that comes with struggle, but the key is to move through the failure zone into the learning zone. If we stay in the failure zone, the narrative we’ve created based on this small failure takes over and soon creates a truth we anchor to. But if we can move through the failure zone to the learning zone, we can maintain a more holistic view of ourselves and take that struggle as an opportunity to grow.

The line 9 x 10 = 91 above can represent a variety of areas in our lives. It could represent a project we underachieved in, a relationship that didn’t work out, diet or workout schedule we didn’t stay disciplined to. We all have our own little failures that present themselves as a risk. The risk is staying in this failure zone. With risk also comes opportunity of learning from the past to grow for the future. Sometimes it’s easier said than done so let’s explore some ideas on how we move through the failure zone and come out the other side with a more holistic perspective.

Reframing: is this struggle supposed to teach me something for the future? This simple reframing question shifts our mind from the fact we failed to the idea we have an opportunity to grow for the future. Invest time in the opportunity to grow as opposed to reliving the failure over and over again.

Pause and reflect: with how fast-paced the world around us is, it’s hard to take time to mitigate distractions and spend time in reflection mode. Reflection allows us to take the lens we’re looking at ourselves through and zoom out to bring in a more holistic view beyond any one struggle or failure.

Feedback: there’s a lot of truth to the cliché feedback is a gift. Diversity of thought and perspective can open our minds to see situations in a much different manner. We can gather diversity of perspective to widen our own perspective.

Reset expectations: when we take on challenges and dedicate ourselves to a growth journey, failures are a necessity. Make sure we’re setting appropriate expectations for ourselves. We must expect to struggle and should be prepared to coach ourselves to learn from these opportunities. Embrace these moments of struggle and find ways to have those experiences make you stronger for the future.

The subjective lens we see ourselves through is such a critical part of our journey. Mistakes and struggles can easily take over the view and it’s critical we find authentic ways to zoom out and make sure we’re not defining ourselves by one moment. The reality is we’ll be in the failure zone at many different points of our growth journey but it’s on each of us to mitigate the time in this zone and move on to the learning zone. In the learning zone we find meaning for struggle and identify ways this struggle can make us stronger for the future.

Take your step: identify an area in your life where struggles and failures have taken over the narrative of how you see yourself. Invest time in zooming out to go well beyond the struggle and pull in other experiences as well. Practice methods (can start with the ones above) of helping provide a more holistic view beyond just the struggle and start reshaping our narrative of who we are.