“Failure Gold”: Why Imperfect Action Leads to Sustainable Health & Weight Loss

155 - What if the thing you’re most afraid of… is actually the doorway to your best version yet?

In this episode, I talk about a concept called “Failure Gold” - the insight and growth that only becomes available after taking imperfect action. 

Many of the women I work with aren’t lacking information. They’re capable. They’ve read the books. Listened to the podcasts. Tried the plans. What holds them back isn’t a lack of knowledge, it’s the fear of failing again.

So instead of taking action, they hesitate. They wait until they feel more ready. More certain. More confident. But confidence doesn’t come before action. It comes from evaluating what happened after action.

In this conversation, we explore:

1. Why copying someone else’s plan often leads to frustration
2. How your brain interprets failure as a threat
3. Why procrastination feels relieving in the moment but heavy long term
4. What it looks like to evaluate instead of judge yourself
5. How small, imperfect action builds momentum and self-trust

What didn’t work isn’t proof that you can’t succeed. It’s feedback about how your unique mind, body, stress response, and habits operate. And when you’re willing to slow down and look at that feedback, instead of running from it, you begin to move forward with more clarity and less emotional drama.

This episode will help you shift from:
“I failed again.”
to
“What value can I extract from this learning?”

If you’re ready to stop avoiding and start learning, I offer complimentary 20-minute conversations. 

Click here to book at the most convenient time and day for you.

You don’t have to do this alone. We are stronger together.

P.S. “Failure Gold” was coined by my business coach, Stacey Boehman

You can always find out more at:

 https://www.clarendasempowerment.com/

Transcript

0:00

What if the very thing you've been trying to avoid is actually the missing piece to your success? So many women I work with are afraid of failing again. Afraid of starting another plan. Afraid of putting in the effort and then not succeeding. But what if failing isn't the problem? What if it's the pathway to your success? Welcome to episode 155 - “Failure Gold”: Why Imperfect Action Leads to Sustainable Health & Weight Loss. Yes. Today we're talking about why taking imperfect action is often the very thing that creates sustainable results. My business coach, Stacey Boehman, coined the phrase, “Failure Gold.” When she shared it, something clicked within me and I immediately thought of how applicable this was for weight loss, health, and really any area that we're wanting to grow in. She describes "failure gold" as what you can discover after the failure. The goal isn't to avoid failing. The goal is to create desire to take action and fail so that you can learn and succeed. It's what you can only learn after taking action and doing it wrong. Do I have your attention? You can't learn it from simply listening to a podcast, taking a course, or doing something that someone else told you to do because they had success in it. And yes, it would be awesome if someone could just hand you a plan, and it worked perfectly every time. And sometimes that happens. I have clients who sometimes experience success quite quickly because they realize that what they're doing is working well for their body and their belief system is intact to support it. They're doing exactly what is needed consistently and it lasts. But we're all unique. So, when someone tries to do something exactly like their sister or their friend or maybe an influencer that they follow and they don't get the same results, they automatically think that something is wrong. They think, "I failed." Or, "The system failed." Or even worse... Maybe I'm just not cut out for this." But that moment, that's where the gold is. Because what didn't work isn't proof that you're not capable or broken. It's data. It's feedback. It's insight into your mind, your body, your habits, patterns, and lived experiences. That's where we slow it down. That's where we look at what happened and evaluate. We extract the learning that is unique to you... your mind and body. Your DNA. Your habits. Your stress response. And all of that becomes gold for your ultimate success in reaching your goals. It's why information without implementation won't give you what you need for sustainable success. There are things we simply can't know without taking action so that we have data to look at and work with. I encourage my clients to take action and show up for our calls no matter what the result is so that we can extract that information, that knowledge, and work from there. Without taking action, it's just abstract. Nothing is really revealed. And I want to encourage you to be willing to take action without having it all figured out, without knowing what your next step will be, say, a month from now. When you are growing and learning every day, that's dynamic. That's how the momentum happens. That's powerful. And here's the part that's important to understand. Your brain will resist anything that feels uncomfortable, anything that's different, because it doesn't want you to feel bad if you fail. It anticipates that failure means you're doing something wrong or that you're not smart enough, disciplined enough, good enough, or anything enough. That anticipation alone is enough to trigger avoidance. And know that procrastination isn't laziness, it's protection. It's your nervous system trying to keep you safe from embarrassment, disappointment, frustration, or shame. How many of you know what procrastination feels like? I know I'm raising my hand. It often comes with a little relief when we say, "Hmm, maybe later. I'll do that tomorrow." Kind of take a deep breath and exhale and think,"Ah, I'm off the hook for a bit." But that's temporary.

' Underneath that relief is something else: 4:51

a heaviness, a quiet dejected feeling. Because the part of you that wants to grow and expand just gets suppressed, and that's where the real cost shows up. The resistance compounds. Health metrics drift. Sleep becomes lighter. Inflammation increases. Energy dips. And confidence erodes. And instead of feeling empowered, you feel behind and disempowered. That feels heavy, not light in your mind and body. Heavy because you're focusing on what's going wrong, not what you can learn. Heavy because you're doing everything you can to avoid failure. But when you take action, even imperfect action, you start to break the cycle. You create data, you create awareness, you create the opportunity to extract that gold. Instead of asking, "why can't I do this?" you start asking,"what can I learn from this?" That shift moves you out of the amygdala sphere response and into the prefrontal cortex, the area where problem solving and growth live. And that's where your power is. For those of you who may be newer here, I'm Clarenda Price, and I'm so glad you're here. Because you're here, it tells me that you have a desire to learn and grow. So good for you. I'm a former Registered Nurse with over 21 years of clinical and university instruction experience, and now I'm a Life and Weight Loss Coach. I help high achieving women who are successful in so many areas of life, but they're frustrated with their health, their energy or weight. Women who are tired of starting over. Tired of trying to do what seems to work for everyone else, but not for them. Through brain-based coaching and practical implementation, I help them regulate their nervous system, rewire old patterns, and build healthy, sustainable habits that actually fit their life. Because becoming healthier isn't just about another plan. It's about how your mind and body respond to that plan. And that can be frustrating. I know I have failed many times. I've tried to do exactly what someone told me to do and had temporary success, but not sustainable success. I've tried to please others and that took a toll on my health. Someone who hasn't experienced a lot of failures, or has a lot of life experience, might not know what to say to you. So just be aware of that. Be gentle with your friend or choose wisely who you're going to use as your mentor. And the failures don't even have to be the same as yours. They just need to be...this is someone who has failed. This is how, what they've learned from it, this is what they've extracted and this is how they've moved forward. The skillset used to move through one area can be applied to another. Things like the ability to evaluate instead of spiral. Pause instead of react. Separate facts from the story that your brain is telling you. Those skills ripple and that's why we see life ripple effects in the Feel Light Mind and Body program. A woman may come to me wanting weight loss support. But what she gains in addition to that weight loss support is often what she deems as most valuable. She experiences emotional regulation, better communication, stronger boundaries, improved sleep, and a calmer nervous system. Because once you learn how to extract failure gold in one area, you don't unlearn that skill. You begin to trust yourself more and in a different way. I know what it's like to pull myself out of a downward spiral. I also know what it's like to feel hope and then feel disappointed and frustrated. I also know what it feels like to be self-honoring, to go through rough waves and choose to ride them rather than letting them sink me in defeat. There is a quiet, humble, and beautiful satisfaction in that. When I've gotten up, evaluated and gotten coached in that area, it sped up the learning process dramatically. My coach could see what I couldn't. She could reveal to me what was happening in my brain. I discovered that what felt like it was outta control at that time was actually within my control. I just couldn't see it, and that's the power of coaching. Not someone telling you what to do. But someone helping you to see clearly so that then you can choose intentionally and powerfully. That's when the amygdala quiets. That's when the limbic system settles. And that's when the prefrontal cortex comes back online. And from there, anything becomes possible. Think about it. Isn't it interesting to think that we can let failure define us or empower us? In doing this work, I've come to gratitude for everything. Not because it was pleasant or that I really wanted to, because let's face it some things are downright painful. But when I was willing to look for the gold in the discomfort, that's when I started to realize everything just happened along the way. It didn't get in the way. If we're willing to look, nuggets of wisdom are revealed. Empathy expands, tools develop, and opportunities appear. So don't be afraid to invest in your health, your relationships, and your life. I'm so glad I have and I will continue to do so. It's a high value for me. You don't have to settle for simply failing and never extracting the gold. You also don't want to do nothing and fail ahead of time with nothing to learn from. Action creates momentum. Momentum builds evidence. And evidence builds confidence. If this spoke to you, if you felt a stir within, I want to offer you a 20-minute complimentary conversation. Simply go to my show notes or Clarendasmpowerment.com. Click on consult and find a time that works for you. If the available times don't fit for your schedule, just message me 'cause I do have a few other flexible areas. Don't procrastinate any longer. Let's extract the failure gold together so you can reach your goals sooner rather than later. It's so much more enjoyable and feels so much better when you're supported than trying to do it alone again. Instead of hiding from your failures, let's use them to create that next level higher, healthier version of yourself. Now, can you think of at least one person who could be encouraged by this episode? Share it with them. It just might be the spark of hope they need today. I think of you often, I think of you when I'm on my walks, when I'm in the shower, sometimes when I first wake up in the morning. So I hope you're finding value in these episodes. If you do and you haven't left a review yet and you're not quite sure how to, don't hesitate to reach out. I have a quick little thing that can help you do so, and it would mean the world to me. It's what we need in order to be able to reach more people and to bring on some more interesting guests. We are stronger together. Let's make this not just an empowered but a memorable week.