THE JOY OF FAILURE
How to Handle Failure and Experience Massive Breakthroughs From It
By Chris Evans & Julia McCoy
Foreword by Taylor Welch
A breakthrough Guide on joy in failure
page 52, Chris writing:
“The mask of success is the image we present to the world that makes zero logical sense, but people believe in it anyway with wild hope. They want desperately to believe that some people don’t struggle! Success can be easy!
This mask looks like your face but blots out all your failures, doubts, anxieties, losses, and fears. Wearing it means pretending you rose up to meet your wins smoothly with nothing but fanfare, fist-pumping, smiles, and excitement. It wipes away the tears, the frustration, the setbacks, and the low points as if they never happened. The messy, failure-filled middle—the one we all know and experience when we strive to meet a goal—doesn’t exist when you don the mask.
I wore the mask of success to protect myself. Yes, in the worldly sense, I was successful. But I often felt insecure and like an imposter. With the mask, I had it all together. I was killing the game of entrepreneurship. I had the answers. I didn’t struggle as other people struggled.
Through the mask, if I presented a curated image of myself, I could control the image others had of me. However, there’s a big problem with wearing a mask. It’s not true. It’s posturing. It’s inauthentic. It’s exhausting and not sustainable.
The joy in failure is having my mask shattered on the ground as I faceplant. No doubt it bruises and batters my ego. But it’s an opportunity to discover my true self and express that authentically so the world can see who I am, failures and all.
The funny thing I’ve discovered about measuring myself to others’ success and standards is that the comparison is always a sham: I’ve simply been comparing my mask to theirs.”
How do you come back from what feels like a deadly left turn–the kind of left turn that wrecks not only your business, but your life and your identity?
Visionary co-authors Chris Evans and Julia McCoy know what it means to come back from near-devastating failures, and turn an entire situation meant for harm into good.
Because what was meant for evil can be turned into incredible good. Incredible lessons. Incredible revenue opportunities, even.
And this book will show you how.
If you’re a Bible reader, you know the story of Joseph in Egypt. His brothers tried to kill him by stripping him naked and throwing him into a well. (Talk about failure!) He went on to not only live to tell the tale, but to reign at the right-hand side of the king as a prince in the kingdom!
He told his brothers: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50.20)
The same thing is true for you.
Join multiple 8-figure entrepreneur Chris Evans and co-writer Julia McCoy, content marketing entrepreneur and President of a leading AI company, in the story of a lifetime–a raw, real recounting of failures they’ve encountered or suffered through, and how they turned these experiences into a series of remarkable lessons.
You’ll experience hope, motivation, and inspiration in these pages. This is the blueprint to joy after failure that you’ve been waiting for.
Beautiful bonus: world-leading expert consultant and business builder Taylor Welch, former business partner of Chris Evans, joins Chris and Julia to write the foreword.
Joy of Failure: Table of Contents
Foreword by Taylor Welch
Introduction
By Chris:
Using Failure as a Catalyst for Joy: Chris’s Story
From $70,000,000 to ZERO
How I Went from the Top of the Mountain to the Bottom of the Valley
The (Deadly) Negative Flywheel
The Toxicity I Grew Up in That Shaped Negative Value Systems
The Dark Side of “Success”
You Never “Arrive”
Changing Our Value Systems
External vs. Internal Influence
Rebuilding Identity
Joy with a Little Comes Before Joy with a Lot
Turning Failure into Purpose
The Importance of Having Grace and Compassion for Yourself
Every Day is a Blank Slate
Unearthing the Purpose Inside Your Failure
Focus on the Right Lessons
Failure is a Feedback Loop
Why Failure is FOR Us
Practical Tips on Bouncing Back From Failure
How to Dig Deep, Unmask Your Feelings, and Process Failure: Get Awareness, Lean In, Find Process & Pattern
How I Failed and How You’re at Risk (Still)
Red Flag #1: I Built from Lack.
Red Flag #2: I Lost Focus.
Red Flag #3: I Built Too Fast.
Red Flag #4: I Lacked Agility
Red Flag #5: I Didn’t Innovate
Red Flag #6: I Wore the Mask of Success
From Failure to Joy, and Failure to Redemption
By Julia:
A Female CEO’s Tale: Learning Through Failure is Key
The Year I Almost Lost My Entire Business
The #1 Mistake I Made
The Wildest Thing: A Sunday Sermon Saved My Business
How Following My Gut–Despite Everyone Telling Me Not to–Saved My Clientele
Big Lessons on Embracing Joy from One of My Biggest (Ever) Failures
Lesson One. Never give up the “keys”
Lesson Two. Hold accountability at all times
Lesson Three. Your gut will speak, listen
Success Comes from Failing
The Death of Ego & How It Gave Life to the Strongest Version of Me
The Year I Encountered AI
AI is Not the Enemy, Your Fear Is: Fear vs. Opportunity
Why You’ve Got to Seize the Opportunity Boat
Jumping on Board and Setting Sail
The AI Ship of Opportunity
Circle of Growth: Returning to Roots (& Taking It Further Than I Dreamed of)
The Great AI Merge
Final Keys to Success
About the Authors
Visionary Lead Author
CHRIS EVANS
started and built a $70MM dollar portfolio (valued by a third party) of digital businesses within 7 years. He managed a team of 150 people spanning the globe. As a founder, Chris is keenly aware of the challenges that Founders, Owners and CEO’s face on a daily basis to run a thriving business.
After experiencing success and failure, he’s on the road to building a more agile and enjoyable business that serves him and his family, not the other way around. He’s sharing his biggest lessons from failure in the pages of this book, Joy of Failure.
Chris has been married 21 years and has four amazing kids.
Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: @thechrisevans
Chris’ website: Coming soon
Legendary Foreword Author
TAYLOR WELCH
is an industry leading consultant in the online training & education industry.
Married for ten years to his best friend, Taylor is an outspoken advocate of being successful at home, first – business, second. Winning isn’t about beating everyone else – winning is about playing better, for longer, and staying in the game.
Today, he manages a portfolio of businesses making the world smarter, happier & healthier. If you run a business that is good for the world and good for people, you will get tremendous insights from his publishing schedule of commentary, lectures, articles & podcasts.
Visionary Writer & Co-Author
JULIA MCCOY
Julia McCoy is a 9x author and a leading content marketing entrepreneur behind creating exceptional content and presence that lasts online.
Julia has been named in the top 30 of all content marketers worldwide, is the founder of Content Hacker, and in 2021, exited a 100-person writing agency she spent 10 years building with a desire to help marketers, teams, and entrepreneurs find the keys of online success and revenue growth without breaking. An early adapter to AI, she sees the future unlike anyone else. Today, as the President at Content at Scale, she leads adaption for writers, marketers, and creators in the world’s fastest-growing vertical: AI.
Julia believes that failure brings some of your greatest successes, and it’s in the fire where you learn your best lessons. Her story in Joy of Failure is a testament to that. Her other eight books on Amazon include a non-fiction memoir of her life growing up in and escaping a radical cult: Woman Rising, A True Story.
Julia’s website: ContentHacker.com
Learn about Content at Scale: ContentHacker.com/AI
Connect with Julia on Twitter and Instagram: @JuliaEMcCoy.
Email the author: [email protected]
