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.

34576 comments

  • Comment Link Exefwrarf Tuesday, 07 June 2022 03:28 posted by Exefwrarf

    sildenafil 100 mg best price sildenafil 12.5 mg https://viagrause5.com/

  • Comment Link golden goose outlet Tuesday, 07 June 2022 03:10 posted by golden goose outlet

    I want to show my respect for your generosity giving support to all those that absolutely need assistance with your subject matter. Your personal commitment to getting the message all around has been unbelievably valuable and have in every case made associates just like me to arrive at their goals. Your new warm and helpful guideline denotes a lot to me and a whole lot more to my colleagues. Regards; from each one of us.

  • Comment Link yeezy 700 Tuesday, 07 June 2022 03:10 posted by yeezy 700

    A lot of thanks for all of the work on this website. Kate enjoys setting aside time for research and it is obvious why. Almost all learn all relating to the powerful medium you offer sensible secrets through this web blog and even invigorate response from other individuals on the concern then my princess is actually becoming educated a whole lot. Have fun with the rest of the year. You're the one performing a splendid job.

  • Comment Link yeezys Tuesday, 07 June 2022 03:10 posted by yeezys

    I would like to express my appreciation to the writer just for rescuing me from such a difficulty. Right after exploring throughout the world-wide-web and getting views which were not productive, I believed my life was over. Living without the presence of answers to the problems you have solved as a result of your entire blog post is a serious case, and those which may have negatively affected my entire career if I had not noticed your website. Your personal capability and kindness in playing with all the things was tremendous. I'm not sure what I would've done if I had not come upon such a subject like this. I can at this moment look forward to my future. Thanks for your time very much for the expert and effective help. I will not think twice to suggest your web site to any person who needs to have assistance on this subject matter.

  • Comment Link yeezy 350 Tuesday, 07 June 2022 03:10 posted by yeezy 350

    I intended to create you the very small remark to help thank you so much once again for these superb solutions you've shared in this article. This has been certainly open-handed of you to deliver openly all many of us would have made available as an electronic book to earn some money for their own end, even more so considering that you might well have done it in case you desired. The tricks also worked to be the easy way to recognize that other individuals have the same zeal just as mine to understand somewhat more in respect of this problem. I am certain there are many more fun opportunities up front for individuals that examine your site.

  • Comment Link hermes belt Tuesday, 07 June 2022 03:10 posted by hermes belt

    Thanks so much for providing individuals with an extremely marvellous chance to read from here. It is always so useful plus jam-packed with a good time for me personally and my office colleagues to search your blog nearly three times per week to read through the newest guides you will have. And indeed, we're actually happy with your striking methods you serve. Selected 2 facts in this article are honestly the simplest I've ever had.

  • Comment Link kyrie irving shoes Tuesday, 07 June 2022 03:10 posted by kyrie irving shoes

    I simply wished to thank you very much yet again. I'm not certain the things that I might have done in the absence of those strategies revealed by you relating to such a field. It had been an absolute challenging situation for me, nevertheless noticing a well-written strategy you managed the issue forced me to leap over joy. I'm just happier for the assistance and even expect you recognize what an amazing job you are getting into teaching many others all through a site. Most likely you haven't encountered any of us.

  • Comment Link off white Tuesday, 07 June 2022 03:10 posted by off white

    I would like to express some thanks to the writer just for rescuing me from this crisis. After surfing around through the world-wide-web and obtaining ideas which are not beneficial, I thought my life was done. Being alive minus the strategies to the problems you have solved all through this review is a serious case, and those that might have badly damaged my entire career if I had not encountered your web site. Your personal talents and kindness in handling all things was priceless. I don't know what I would've done if I hadn't encountered such a step like this. I can at this point look forward to my future. Thanks for your time so much for the expert and amazing guide. I won't think twice to propose the website to anybody who needs counselling on this matter.

  • Comment Link bape Tuesday, 07 June 2022 03:10 posted by bape

    I have to show my respect for your kindness supporting individuals that have the need for help with in this content. Your very own dedication to getting the message throughout became surprisingly advantageous and has in every case empowered somebody just like me to realize their goals. The insightful instruction entails a great deal to me and much more to my fellow workers. Thank you; from all of us.

  • Comment Link golden goose outlet Tuesday, 07 June 2022 03:10 posted by golden goose outlet

    My spouse and i ended up being now joyful that Jordan managed to finish off his preliminary research out of the ideas he obtained out of your web page. It's not at all simplistic to simply possibly be giving freely tips and tricks that many other folks could have been making money from. And now we discover we need the blog owner to thank for this. The entire illustrations you made, the straightforward blog navigation, the friendships you can aid to instill - it is everything spectacular, and it is making our son and us understand this situation is amusing, which is certainly exceedingly vital. Thanks for everything!