Ever felt terrible about not showing up for something, only to discover it was the best thing that could have happened? In this thought-provoking Fail Forward Friday episode, Heather V Masters challenges our obsession with consistency and explores the radical idea that sometimes "failing" to show up is actually the universe's way of protecting and guiding us. Through two raw personal stories—a technical nightmare that led to a client breakthrough and a countryside delay that saved her from a serious accident—Heather reveals how divine timing often trumps our best-laid plans.

What's Inside:

• Heather's vulnerable story of technical failures that felt like professional incompetence but created space for deeper client transformation
• The tale of the slowest tractor in Northumberland and how it became unexpected protection from a serious road accident
• Why consistency is good, but intuition and trust in timing can be even better
• Three powerful lessons about surrendering control and trusting the bigger picture
• A week-long "trust experiment" to help you reframe delays and setbacks

Key Takeaways:

• Sometimes the universe has far better timing than our carefully planned schedules
• Consistency is brilliant, but learning to trust when things aren't flowing is equally important
• Perfect timing isn't your timing—it's the right timing for what you truly need
• "Failures" to show up can actually be course corrections protecting you from harm or preparing you for something better

The Bigger Picture:

This episode arrives at a time when many people are burnt out from trying to be perfectly consistent and always "on." Heather's message offers a refreshing alternative: what if we could trust the process, even when it doesn't match our plans?

This Week's Trust Experiment:

When something goes "wrong" this week—delays, tech failures, cancelled plans—pause before the self-blame kicks in. Ask yourself: "What if this timing is actually perfect? What might this be protecting me from or preparing me for?" Notice what shifts when you trust rather than fight the process.

Chapters:

• 00:10 - Embracing Failure as a Step to Growth
• 00:49 - Transformative Lessons in Timing and Failure
• 03:17 - Lessons on Timing and Intuition
• 04:14 - The Power of Perfect Timing
• 05:55 - Closing Thoughts and Future Episodes

Connect & Share:

• Share your own stories of "failures" that turned out to be blessings with us @ChoosingHappyPodcast or heather@heathervmasters.com
• Visit www.choosinghappypodcast.com for more episodes about trusting life's unexpected turns
• Subscribe for weekly doses of wisdom about choosing happiness through life's plot twists

How You Can Support This Independent Podcast:

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Tired of the same patterns keeping you stuck?

Check out the Pattern Breaker Coaching Program: www.choosinghappy.co.uk/pattern-breaker

Want to dive deeper? Drop me an email: heather@heathervmasters.com

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Your support is so appreciated! Thank you!

Hello and welcome to the Choosing Happy Podcast.

It's Fail Forward Friday and I'm a bit late today and I need to ask you something that might make you squirm.

Have you ever felt absolutely terrible about not showing up on time and then discovered it was the best thing that could ever have happened?

Here's a thing we're obsessed with consistency, with being reliable, with showing up no matter what.

But what if I told you that sometimes feel failing to show up is actually the universe looking after you better than you could look after yourself.

So stay tuned for today's Choosing Happy Podcast.

Let me share two recent examples that completely flipped my understanding of timing and so called failures.

Now, the first story.

I was creating a hypnosis recording for one of my clients in the last 10 days and it was a proper nightmare, honestly.

The the audio kept cutting out, files were corrupting left and right, the equipment I was using just decided to have what can only be described as a complete electronic meltdown.

The editing stuff just wouldn't work.

And I'm sat there feeling like a right ass amateur thinking, what kind of professional coach can't even manage a simple recording?

And I call myself a techie.

That sinking feeling in your stomach when you know you can't deliver what you promised.

Yeah, I had that in spades.

But here's where it gets really interesting.

When we finally had our session without the recording, she broke through something massive, something I could never have anticipated.

And what emerged in that conversation created a completely different foundation for her transformation.

The recording I eventually made was infinitely better because of that breakthrough.

If I'd sent her the original recording, she might never have accessed what she needed to heal.

And here's another story for you.

Last week, driving to what I thought was a crucial meeting, I got stuck behind the slowest tractor in all of Northumberland.

And I mean slow.

This thing was practically walking pace, diesel engine chugging away like it had all the time and the world, and there was absolutely no way around it on these narrow roads and country lanes.

And I'm gripping the steering wheel, getting really wound up, muttering under my breath about leaving earlier, about how unprofessional I was.

And meanwhile, the tractor driver seemed utterly oblivious to my stress.

He's probably having a lovely, peaceful, perfect morning.

So I arrived 15 minutes late, full of apologies, only to learn there'd been a serious accident on the main route I would have taken if I'd been on time.

The timing meant if I'd got there when I originally planned, I could have been right in the middle of the accident.

The tractor wasn't the delay, it was protection.

So what are the lessons that we can take from these Lesson 1 Sometimes the universe has far better timing than we do.

We get so attached to schedules, plans, our idea of when things should happen.

But what if there's a bigger picture we simply can't see?

What if those failures are actually course corrections from something that knows better than we do?

You know, I keep mentioning that one of my favorite quotes is when man plans, God laughs.

And then Lesson two is consistency.

Because consistency is brilliant, but intuition trumps everything.

Yes, show up.

Yes, be reliable.

Yes, be as consistent as possible.

But also learn to trust.

When something's not flowing, when the technology rebels, when you're inexplicably delayed, when something just goes wrong.

Sometimes that's not incompetence, it's information.

Lesson 3 Perfect timing isn't your timing, it's the right timing.

My client needed that breakthrough before she could receive the deeper transformation I needed to avoid that accident.

The universe was working through what looked like my failures to create outcomes I never could have orchestrated for myself.

And when you hear of people meeting in really unusual circumstances, it's usually because something's gone wrong and the universe has somehow conspired that Meet cute.

Here's your challenge this week or this weekend.

When something goes wrong, when you're running late, when technology fails, when plans fall through, when you just don't get out the door on time, pause before the guilt and self blame kick in and ask yourself, what if the timing is actually perfect?

What might this be protecting me from or preparing me for?

And notice what shifts when you trust the process instead of fighting it.

And also, you may never find out the reason for the delay, but trust that it's absolutely perfect.

I'd love to hear your own stories of failures that turned out to be exactly what you needed and share them with us at the Choosing Happy Podcast.

Or pop over to choosinghappypodcast.com and remember, sometimes not showing up is precisely how you show up for what truly matters.

The universe has impeccable timing, even when it looks like everything's going wrong.

Speak soon and have a wonderful weekend.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this week's episode.

If you enjoyed it or think it would be valuable to others, please do share.

And if you really enjoyed it, please leave me a review.

It really helps the podcast.

All of the links are in the show notes and I look forward to seeing you next week on the Choosing Happy Podcast.