Failure Reinvented
“There is no such thing as failure.”
How else do we learn? How many times did it take to learn to tie your shoes? How many times did you fall off your bike when you were learning? Before you began your very first job, did you know what you were doing? Have you never failed?
Have you ever considered that in order to progress, you need to fail?
Many highly successful people don’t look at their failures as deterrents, but as opportunities to improve. How else do we learn to succeed?
Changing Your Mindset
Surely, you have heard of the power of positivity. What would happen if you changed your mindset of “failure” to mean “opportunity” or “success”?Think about these points:
The journey to get to where you are today included some failures;
Even when things do not go as planned or did not have the desired outcome at the time, you’ve ultimately had a positive outcome;
Bad choices from the past have taught you to avoid making those bad choices again;
Learning from your mistakes have taught you to do better, be better;
Experience has allowed you to progress, succeed.
Failure as Feedback
Failure sometimes allows us to give pause in the midst of whatever process we are going through to obtain critical information that drives us to change our behaviors or patterns. It encourages us to try something new, to think differently, to continue learning and shift our focus.
Imagine what would happen if we didn’t get that feedback, or ignored it? It’s possible that we would continuously move down the same negative path, towards the wrong goals without ever learning how to steer in another direction.
Think back to a time when you were making bad decisions. Where would you be today if you never changed course?
Failure should be viewed as positive information that puts us back on course towards a positive outcome. Without it, we would be lost. How many times have you taken the wrong road to get to your final destination and ended up in the wrong part of town? Imagine if you never learned from that and continuously took that same road to nowhere? It’s the same concept.
In your personal or professional life, it is important to recognize when you are going down the wrong path, when you are making the same choices and expecting different results. Identify it, change direction, try something different or shift your focus.
Helpful Tips:
Always have a clear idea of where you want to go and continue to re-evaluate it as you move along. Your destination may change throughout the course of your life.
Identify specific milestones or markers along the way to keep you on track. Celebrate each milestone.
If you find yourself coming up against a roadblock, or you are not getting to your destination fast enough, try a new course.
Be open to learning. Learn from others who have gone down this path before; seek out experts. Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to ask. It takes courage to admit you need help.
“You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call “failure” is not the falling down, but the staying down” – Mary Pickford
“You never fail until you stop trying” – Albert Einstein
“Failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success” – Arianna Huffington
Lastly, if you still feel that failure is for losers, Google "famous failures" and see for yourself; or ask the most successful person you know to tell you their story.
It's all about mindset. Failure is your friend who will guide you to success!