Hands up who likes failing. Anyone? No? Well, time to think about this differently. If we never fail we never learn and we miss out on a bucket load of resilience along the way. The alternative is to avoid risk of any kind and live a very mediocre and small life. Do we want that for our children or ourselves? Time to reframe failure and start celebrating the gifts is bestows on the brave.
This is why we are so excited to announce that Girls Out Loud has been invited to partner with Always on its latest inspirational #LIKEAGIRL campaign, which is all about encouraging teenage girls to persevere, embrace failure as the world’s best teacher and push on to achieve their dreams. #LikeAGirl
Puberty can be a scary time. Bodies change, socialising can become more of a minefield and girls can often become more aware of the expectations of others. According to this year’s Always Confidence and Puberty Survey, 49% of girls in the UK feel paralysed by the fear of failure during puberty, with 81% saying that pressure to succeed contributed to this fear. This needs to change. Failure makes us more confident and resilient – it’s fuel for success. Encouraging our teenage girls to be risk-takers – and to embrace the possibility of failure – is vital if they’re going to grow into the sassy, smart and empowered women that the world needs.
To make sure this happens, Always has created the #LikeAGirl squad – which is made up of pop superstar Alesha Dixon, YouTube sensation Hannah Witton and our Founder Jane, who’ll be on hand as resident expert on all things teenage girls. The squad be working together to create a series of weekly podcasts tackling confidence issues and that dreaded fear of failure, and Jane and a team of GOL coaches will also be leading the #LikeAGirl academy. This will take place in London in March 2018 in line with International Women’s Day and will bring together young women from across the UK for a day dedicated to building their self-esteem and equipping them with the tools they need to keep going through failure.
Jane says ‘Throughout my life, and especially in the seven years since I founded Girls Out Loud, I’ve been incredibly lucky to meet some amazing women. And each and every one of them got to where they are by taking risks – and inevitably by failing at various points along the way. As women, we can make a difference to teenage girls by sharing our experiences of failure and perseverance with them. If we only ever shout about the times things went perfectly, who can blame girls for being scared to try in case they fail?’
Now’s the time to step up and be role models. Whether that’s by sharing your #LikeAGirl stories on social media, becoming one of our Big Sister mentors, or simply by openly talking about your journey with girls you know, we can all contribute towards making the world seem like a more failure-friendly place for the next generation.
If you want to get on board, join the #LikeAGirl conversation on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
