Failure
I've tried many times and nothing worked. Now what?
See what each attempt left, change one variable at a time and spend less time on the ground. Many falls don't prove incapacity; they can be preparation.
bairogonzalez.com team, drawing on Bairo's story · Published
Once is bad luck, twice is coincidence, and by the third time your head starts telling you that the problem is you. That weariness of trying is real and deserves respect. But it is not proof that the next attempt will fail.
What to do now
- Draw a timeline of your attempts. For each one: what you did, what went right, what went wrong, what changed between one and the next. Many people discover they repeated the same mistake in different clothes.
- Change one thing at a time. If everything changes with every attempt, you don't learn what worked. Keep what went right and swap only what failed: the partner, the audience, the price, the channel.
- Try smaller and faster. Instead of betting everything again, test the idea on a small scale. Sell before producing in quantity. Listen to the customer before investing.
- Shorten your time on the ground. You can't avoid falls. You can get up faster. Set a deadline for grieving and another for getting back into action.
- Protect the basics while you try. Don't bet the rent, your children's food or other people's money on a new attempt. A sustainable attempt is one that doesn't wreck the household if it goes wrong.
- Seek out people who know the field. Sebrae, mentors, entrepreneur groups, people in the industry. A one-hour conversation can save you an entire attempt.
- If weariness has become hopelessness, stop and ask for help. CVV at 188, free and 24 hours a day; primary health units (UBS) and psychosocial care centers (CAPS) through SUS.
When it happened to Bairo
Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez can't say how many times he tried. He says he tried, thought about stopping and almost gave up more times than he likes to remember. The number he chose to tell the story is seven: the seventh attempt, and the last, was the one that worked.
Before it came the salon, the hair-treatment course, the AI and augmented reality idea that came too early, the cosmetics brand his partners pushed him out of, events and digital printing, the investment that didn't hold, the project in which he was left hanging.
Looking back, he sees what each one left. Method. An eye for the future. Proof that he could create from nothing. The lesson about whom to build with. The courage to do what he didn't know how to do.
The path
Seven is often the number of completeness. In Bairo's life, it was the number of stubbornness. The attempt that worked wasn't the first lucky one; it was the first that carried all the others inside it. If you've already tried many times, maybe you aren't starting over from zero. Maybe you're starting over with everything the falls have taught you.
Being tired of trying is not the same as lacking ability. Sometimes all you need is a planned pause, with an end date, to come back with a clear head. During that pause, rest, talk, study what went wrong. When you come back, come back with a smaller, cheaper, better-thought-out attempt. Intelligent persistence knows when to breathe.