Let Your Messes Be Your Successes
I was at an event the other day, where we had a panel of nonprofit leaders discussing the good, bad, and ugly of the nonprofit world. I was multi-tasking, trying to put out a miniature fire. (Ironically for a fundraising event I am heading for another nonprofit.) In my half-listening, I hear one of the panel members make the statement:
Make your messes your message.
Well, hells bells, do I have a lot of messages.
In all seriousness, how else do we have a message, without screwing up along the way? Think of a successful motivational speaker. What makes them so engaging? What is it about them that draws people to them? Why do people want to hear them? Simple…
They are human. They made a mess. They are relatable.
They screwed up or got into a bad situation at some point in their life, learned a few (or many) lessons, and overcame the situation. I mean, seriously, find me an authentic motivational speaker that hasn’t landed in a pile of crap a few times, and I’ll show you a 2-yr old that has never had a tantrum.
They don’t exist.
Messing up is the catalyst needed to grow. Just look at the kids raised by helicopter parents…always ensuring the environment is set up to mitigate the risk of any adverse outcomes. No way…
