Making your life truly f’d up: from down to up through intentional failure
The Shift Starts Now
Making decisions in the moment as your new self—that’s the shift.
Not waiting until tomorrow to start your 21-day fast, your workout, or your “turnaround.” The shift happens when you stop deferring transformation and start making new decisions right now—even when they don’t feel perfect.
But here’s the thing: you can’t enter into that shift carrying the weight and mindset of your old self. You’ve got to identify who that version of you was—her triggers, her comfort zones, her thought patterns, her fallback behaviors.
You’ve got to be aware enough to recognize when she’s trying to show up again.
This Journey Will Require Failure
And not just any failure—intentional failure.
Because the truth is: you can’t truly change what you won’t confront. You need to see yourself in action. Watch how you respond. Notice what triggers you. And don’t just react—study it.
So many people think they know themselves… but they keep falling into the same patterns:
- Procrastination
- Arguing
- Overeating
- Avoiding
- Scrolling
- Shrinking
Why? No real awareness. No strategy. No plan to change.
If you want to go from down to up in any area of your life, you have to get honest about what’s keeping you down.
Intentional Failure Is the Path to Awareness
Let me give you a personal example.
I used to have a bad habit of overeating. Anything could trigger it. Frustration. Boredom. Celebration. A sign on the road. Not feeling like cooking. A new menu drop on Instagram. Anything! (insert monster voice here).
But when I started paying attention, I realized something deeper was happening. Emotional triggers. Situational triggers. I was using food to cope. That was my thing.
But the crazy part? Half the time, the food wasn’t even all that good!
And that awareness set me on another journey—looking for food that was actually worth eating. But even then, I noticed: I still wasn’t satisfied.
I’d eat, and I’d still want more. It wasn’t hunger—it was a hole I was trying to fill. And the more I gave in, the stronger the grip got. A stronghold was forming.
But here’s what’s wild: the more I failed, the more aware I became. I learned what was really going on. I saw how that habit was keeping me bound. And that awareness helped me start implementing the strategy I’m giving you now:
Make decisions in the moment as your new self.
Stop giving your old self permission to show up in situations that require your healed, disciplined, focused, God-led self. Stop living in the cycles. Stop telling yourself “next time.” Stop being scared of failing. Start failing intentionally—and use it as a tool for your breakthrough.
Failure Became My Feedback
Every time I slipped, I didn’t just beat myself up. Instead I got curious.
- Why did I do that?
- What emotion showed up?
- What did I really need in that moment?
I started to realize: the food wasn’t satisfying because it was never meant to satisfy what I was really hungry for. The eating was a substitute for the healing I actually needed.
That failure? It became feedback. And that feedback led me to strategy.
This is how you transform failure from something that keeps you down into something that moves you up.
The Nuance Nobody Talks About
Let’s be real: failure is going to happen.
We’re human. We will miss the mark. But the fear of failure? That’s what truly keeps people stuck. It keeps you from showing up. It convinces you that mistakes mean you’re broken.
And here’s what nobody tells you:
Everyone says “learn from your mistakes”, but nobody shows you how.
Here’s how:
- Pay attention on purpose
- Track your patterns
- Journal the moment
- Ask yourself what triggered you
- Then ask what you truly needed
This is how failure becomes information—not identity.
You Are Not Your Failure
You’ve got to stop confusing failure with who you are.
You are not “a mess.”
You are not “lazy.”
You are not “too far gone.”
You are learning.
You are collecting data.
You are becoming someone new.
“The righteous may fall seven times, but they rise up again.”
– Proverbs 24:16
Each time you get back up, you’re wiser. Each time you rise, you’re stronger. This is the heart of living f’d up—going from down to up, again and again.
Let This Be Your Shift
Failing in cycles keeps you stuck. But failing with intention gets you free.
One is bondage. The other is breakthrough.
So stop being afraid of being seen trying. Stop hiding your process. Look failure in the face and say:
“I’m just collecting data.”
Because you are. You’re learning you. And every piece of data moves you closer to becoming the version of yourself you’re designed to be—the up life you’re meant to live.
Ready to Fail Forward?
Need a place to track the data?
Download our free “Intentional Failing Tracker” (coming soon) to document your triggers, patterns, and lessons—and turn every slip-up into strategy.
Was this post for you? Drop a comment below or share this with someone who needs to fail on purpose and rise up wiser.
Remember:
Your life can be truly f’d up—from down to up—one intentional failure at a time.
#thefduplife #failonpurpose #selfawareness #faithandhealing #spiritualgrowth #personaldevelopment #innerwork #fruitfulliving
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