Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight: The Mantra for Success

It’s the start of a new year, and with it comes a sense of new beginnings, fresh starts, and new opportunities. We sit down, and with a heart full of hopes, we write down our goals for the year; because this is it, the year our goals will come to fruition. But what happens when months start to roll by, and few of our goals have become a reality? 

When a new year starts, and we write down those goals, sometimes we don’t count on failure or how hard failing may hit us mentally and emotionally. Pursuing goals comes with challenges. Challenges that we may have never faced before or that we’re simply not prepared enough for; that’s when defeat and frustration appear. My favorite proverb comes to mind in those situations: fall down seven times, get up eight. 

The proverb I mentioned is a Japanese proverb that speaks to the mindset of the Japanese people. Japanese people have several proverbs and expressions that all lead to the same conclusion: achieving a goal takes perseverance and resilience. Resilience is an essential psychological quality that allows people to cope with life’s adversities and come back stronger than before. It is the ability to rise above difficult situations, whether they are physical, mental, or emotional. 

Failing can be a difficult experience to overcome, and the one thing that makes it even harder is our mind. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by negative thoughts and self-doubt, but it's important to understand that these thoughts and feelings are normal, and it's also important to recognize that they don't have to define us. 

Getting back up takes courage, braveness, and tenacity, not simple things to achieve. Sometimes to reach a goal, we need to reroute the path, and change the steps, maybe over and over again, and that’s okay because life doesn’t have quick fixes, and the goals we set for ourselves don’t have them either. Everything worth it will take work, persistence, and resilience. Success doesn't happen overnight, and failure is always a possibility. But the good news is that with failure comes learning and an opportunity for growth.

The lessons you learn along the way, a lot of the time, are more important than the end goal. Those lessons will last you a lifetime, and you'll remember them and apply them to several aspects of your life, other tasks, and other goals that may not be even remotely similar to the one that started it all. 

When I was in the process of creating Reflection of Memories, I faced many challenges. This brand started as a side job, and then I decided to focus on it full-time and turned it into my main job and income, so I needed it to work. Desperately. Every time I thought about giving up, this proverb would come to mind. I got up time and time again, and now I can proudly and happily say I work doing something I love and that this brand that started as a side job is now my full-time work and my main source of income. 

I created a necklace with this proverb for myself, and now I'm sharing it with all of you. Every time I face a new challenge or a setback, I wear this necklace and remind myself that I can get back up as many times as needed.

You can shop the necklace here.