Welcome to
The DFN Weekly

On Your Mark, Get Set ...
RECOVER!

By
BlakkFrogg

Wyldpussy

We've all had 'great' ideas and thrown everything we had behind them in an effort to turn our dreams of success into something real -- like sales, sales and more sales. Accordingly, we've all encountered failure at some point or other. Not every idea turns out the way we think it will and not every idea will make you money.

So now comes grief, a bit of depression, and sometimes, a buttload of despair. Three things that we as adult webmasters encounter a lot more often than we'd like. Some handle it very well, some blame the rest of the world and whine about their problems on messageboards, and some drop out of the game entirely because they can't hack the bad moments and (temporary?) setbacks.

To those that drop out, I enjoyed your company while you were around and I hope you find greener pastures elsewhere.

To those that whine on messageboards and blame their failures on external forces all the time, take a look in the mirror and ask yourself if all that whining puts money in your pockets or food on your plate. Isn't there something more productive you could do instead of whining? Besides ... the squeakiest wheel only gets the oil if it's useful. Otherwise no one cares about the noise it makes.

To those that stick to their guns even when all seems lost, I commend you on your bravery and ask what your next move is now that earlier plans have fallen through.

Some, although sticking to their guns, will say they don't know and wallow in their own misery while making half-hearted attempts at recovering from their most recent failure(s). Many in this group keep throwing the same (error-ridden) stuff back at the wall to see if anything, even after numerous attempts, decides to stick. Their perseverance move me to tears, but the results of their efforts cause me to weep like a little kid who's just skinned his knee on concrete.

The remaining group refrains from setting up any new "big" projects until they have evaluated the full scope of their failure(s), identified the elements that worked and figured out why the bad elements failed. Then, and only then, do they formulate a new plan of attack. This group believes the more knowledge and insight they have into their own failures, the greater the odds of their succeeding in the future.

It hurts to fail. Everyone knows that. What hurts even more is failing over and over again because you didn't take the time to properly analyze both the good and the bad from your last venture.

"Those that do not learn from History are bound to repeat it." Sound familiar? It should... and it applies to adult webmastering the same as it does your everyday life.

Learn from your mistakes, study your flawed plans, absorb the wisdom that only failure can generate... then turn around, face the world and kick some ass.

Blakk Frogg