Print this page
Sunday, 05 November 2017 04:57

Handling Failure. Featured

Written by
Rate this item
(0 votes)

Why are you avoiding failing, and why does it look like it is the end of the world when you fail at something dear? To define failure in any context, you must first ask: what are you falling short of? What standards are you lacking? By which metrics are you failing? You can’t truly know what it means to fail if you don’t know what it means to succeed.

I have failed so many times in my life. I still fail sometimes, but I am not a failure. I know that school sabotage our relationship with failure. It installs in us some negative ways to deal with and handle failure. The results of your test and exams, states if you passed or failed. If you fail, there are consequences—your teachers and parents might be disappointed with you, you probably won’t get into the next class or the next level of your program. You might repeat or be kicked off. The price of failing is a very high price. You just can’t afford to fail.

Having this in mind, we have a terrible relationship with failure. Our educational system literally teaches us to associate failing with people being angry with us, opportunity slipping away, and having to spend our entire summers at school while our friends are all having fun outside. The message we learn from this is not positive. It instils the fear of failing in us. The moment you have the fear of failing, you will attract more failing. It is a never ending vicious cycle. If you fail, you’ll be punished. Supposedly, if you manage to not fail, you’re OK until you fail. The problem is that this belief is horribly misguided, and it sets us up for a lifetime of failure outside of the classroom.

To get better you need to change your own definition of failure. This will enable you to change your perspective. This will enable you to see the positive in failing and attract positive results despite failing. You have no option, but to accept failing is good for you. Failure is a necessary precursor to ultimate success. Want to make it big in the real world? Fail early, fail fast, fail often, as the saying goes.

When you fail, it is the process that failed, and not you. Creating a purposeful life requires messing up and venturing into the unknown. While we all want success, this is not guaranteed. That’s why the ability to recover from setback and move forward is essential. And this starts with embracing, processing, and even benefiting from failure. Failure is the best teacher. Until you experience failure, you won’t learn the secrets embedded that will enable you to succeed. Scientists have long understood that the brain has two ways of learning. One is avoidance learning, which is a punishing, negative experience that trains the brain to avoid repeating mistakes. The other is reward-based learning, a positive, reinforcing experience in which the brain feels rewarded for reaching the right answer.

In the educational system, failure means lost opportunity. But in the real world, failure is the currency for success. There is no success without failure. No matter how brilliant you think you are, you can’t tiptoe past failure on the way to success, failure is the front door. You’re not better or smarter than failure, you’re not above it and you can’t escape it. You’re going to fail many times, probably more than you succeed. If that idea made you queasy, well, get used to it. Failure doesn’t mean you are not good enough. Failure is just a data for you to work with. It is basic information that gives insight. It is a feedback.

The currency you earn from failing is the data and information the failure presents to you. How you use this data and information will determine how successful you will become. The more times you fail, the more data you earn, and the richer and more knowledgeable you become. Failure should not be taken for granted. It should not be taken on a face value. It is valuable to fail. As a matter of fact, failure is as precious as gold. If you want to achieve anything worthwhile, you must let go of the idea that failure is something to avoid. Nobody wants to fail, but you must be willing to fail if you ever want the chance to succeed.

Life is not like a restaurant where you can choose your meal. You don’t have the choice and leisure to choose between failure and success.  It doesn’t matter how much you achieve, or how good you think you are, you’ll never be immune to failure. Expect it often. Anticipate it. Remember that even though you can have failure without success, you can’t have success without failure. Failure is inevitable.

There is always room for improvement no matter how great you are. Sometimes, you’ll never know which areas need improvement unless you fail. You learn more from failure than from success. Failure makes you stronger, not weaker. Failure shouldn’t break or stop you, because you’re unstoppable. If you break or stop, it is not because of failing, it is because you decided to give up. You made the decision to give up. You take more chances in life when you are not afraid to fail. When you fail, oftentimes you’ll realise the present path you’re on is not the right one. You invest more time, and you discover a better path that leads to your goals and objectives. Failing shows you the right path.

Whenever you fail you have a choice. It is either you focus on the facts or you focus on the emotions. If you emphasise your feelings after an instance of failure, you’ll succumb to the victim mindset. Don’t make yourself a victim. If you are a victim of failure, your focus becomes your misfortune. Victims are passive and helpless. Failure feels worse than it is if you feel like a victim.

When you fail, don’t make it personal. Just because you haven’t found a successful way of doing something doesn’t mean you are a failure.  Look at the failure analytically. Don’t be in a hurry to shove it. There are lessons to be learned. Dissect it, learn all you can. Why did you fail? What might have produced a better outcome? Was the failure completely beyond your control? After gathering the facts, step back and ask yourself, what did I learn from this?  Think about how you will apply this newly found insight going forward.

Obsessing over your failure will not change the outcome, so stop dwelling on it. Often our fear of failure is rooted in our fear of being judged and losing others’ respect and esteem. You don't need anyone’s approval. The key to success is handling failure. If you risk failure, sometimes you will fail. But every time you fail, you’re that much closer to success. Success demands its percentage of failure.

Be aware that whenever you are doing something new, learning something new, taking risks or stepping outside your comfort zone, you are risking failure. All is not lost when you fail.

34772 comments

  • Comment Link bape Thursday, 09 June 2022 10:55 posted by bape

    I and also my pals were actually looking through the excellent information from your site then at once got an awful suspicion I never thanked you for those secrets. All the guys were definitely glad to learn all of them and have in effect seriously been enjoying those things. Appreciate your getting simply accommodating and then for having variety of remarkable areas millions of individuals are really eager to know about. My very own sincere regret for not expressing gratitude to you earlier.

  • Comment Link paul george Thursday, 09 June 2022 10:55 posted by paul george

    My wife and i have been more than happy that Peter managed to conclude his investigations via the ideas he came across through the web page. It's not at all simplistic to simply choose to be giving away solutions most people may have been selling. Therefore we do know we now have the blog owner to appreciate for that. The explanations you have made, the easy site menu, the friendships your site give support to promote - it's got everything great, and it's really letting our son and us feel that the subject is brilliant, which is pretty important. Thank you for everything!

  • Comment Link kawhi leonard shoes Thursday, 09 June 2022 10:55 posted by kawhi leonard shoes

    My husband and i have been quite contented that Raymond could conclude his researching through your ideas he obtained out of your site. It is now and again perplexing to just always be giving away secrets and techniques which often others could have been making money from. Therefore we keep in mind we now have the blog owner to thank for that. The most important explanations you've made, the easy web site navigation, the relationships you make it easier to instill - it is everything amazing, and it's really facilitating our son in addition to us recognize that the content is thrilling, which is certainly really serious. Thank you for the whole thing!

  • Comment Link curry 7 shoes Thursday, 09 June 2022 10:23 posted by curry 7 shoes

    I wanted to send you a bit of word so as to give thanks over again just for the pretty tips you've documented here. It's so seriously generous with people like you to convey extensively exactly what a lot of folks could have distributed for an e book to get some dough for themselves, even more so seeing that you might well have tried it if you desired. Those ideas also served as a good way to comprehend someone else have the identical interest the same as my personal own to learn a good deal more pertaining to this condition. I think there are millions of more pleasant occasions ahead for individuals who read carefully your blog.

  • Comment Link WmiLiert Thursday, 09 June 2022 07:30 posted by WmiLiert

    gen rx pharmacy canadian pharmacy generic levitra https://pharmacyday5.com/

  • Comment Link birkin bag Thursday, 09 June 2022 05:09 posted by birkin bag

    I truly wanted to write a small remark to express gratitude to you for all of the remarkable points you are giving out on this site. My rather long internet lookup has at the end been paid with excellent content to go over with my great friends. I 'd mention that we site visitors are extremely lucky to live in a useful network with many special individuals with very beneficial points. I feel somewhat lucky to have discovered your website page and look forward to really more fun minutes reading here. Thank you again for a lot of things.

  • Comment Link supreme hoodie Thursday, 09 June 2022 03:50 posted by supreme hoodie

    My spouse and i ended up being absolutely thankful that Chris managed to carry out his basic research out of the ideas he obtained in your web pages. It's not at all simplistic just to possibly be giving freely solutions which usually the others have been making money from. Therefore we take into account we've got the writer to appreciate because of that. The specific illustrations you made, the simple blog navigation, the friendships your site help engender - it's got mostly incredible, and it's assisting our son in addition to our family understand that topic is enjoyable, and that's seriously serious. Thanks for the whole lot!

  • Comment Link off white jordan 1 Thursday, 09 June 2022 01:27 posted by off white jordan 1

    Thanks a lot for giving everyone an extremely superb chance to read in detail from this website. It's always very pleasurable and as well , packed with a good time for me and my office peers to visit the blog a minimum of 3 times in 7 days to learn the newest guidance you will have. And lastly, I'm so actually fascinated for the staggering hints you give. Certain 2 points in this article are in reality the finest we have ever had.

  • Comment Link Exefwrarf Thursday, 09 June 2022 00:15 posted by Exefwrarf

    where can i buy real viagra viagra from india for sale https://viagrause5.com/

  • Comment Link a bathing ape Wednesday, 08 June 2022 23:34 posted by a bathing ape

    I'm commenting to let you know what a fabulous discovery my wife's child went through viewing your web site. She discovered so many issues, with the inclusion of what it's like to have an excellent helping style to get folks without hassle know precisely specified problematic matters. You really did more than our expectations. Thank you for rendering these beneficial, safe, informative not to mention easy tips on the topic to Jane.