Why Failure Should Be Your Best Friend
Spread the loveThere’s nothing more frustrating than people who succeeded and then, in hindsight, tell how they learned from their own mistakes and failures. It’s like, we know it’s true, but what’s the wisdom in admitting that we failed along the way, after we’ve already succeeded? The bitter reality is that we often conceal our […]
There’s nothing more frustrating than people who succeeded and then, in hindsight, tell how they learned from their own mistakes and failures. It’s like, we know it’s true, but what’s the wisdom in admitting that we failed along the way, after we’ve already succeeded?
The bitter reality is that we often conceal our failures, fearing criticism and reluctant to acknowledge mistakes in real-time.
This limits our progress.
I’ve chosen to divulge some of my failures, some of which I’m still grappling with – yet I understand it’s the path to success. There are no shortcuts.
Early in my journey, an opportunity arose for me to conduct a storytelling workshop at an organization. At the time, storytelling wasn’t within my service offerings. Without hesitation, I assured them the workshop would be ready on time.
I dedicated countless hours to crafting a workshop that would deliver genuine value. I experimented, adapted, and toiled relentlessly. I knew I might be stretching myself thin by venturing into an unfamiliar niche.
Ultimately, the workshop was a resounding success and became a significant aspect of my business. Here, I took a risk and emerged victorious.
Several months ago, I endeavored to promote a course I passionately believed in.
I developed an exceptional course based on successful personal coaching for public speaking. Yet, I was consumed by fear. I kept telling myself, “At best, I won’t succeed.”
Throughout the course marketing process, I took calculated risks and invested in various strategies. I understood there was a possibility it might not yield results and the financial investment could be lost. But I persevered with the tenacity of a lioness.
In the end, the venture fell short. I failed.
Instead of succumbing to dismay, I recognized the opportunity to glean valuable lessons from this setback.
One of the most profound lessons I’ve learned is that even in failure, my worth and capabilities remain intact. It simply signifies that the circumstances weren’t favorable for that particular endeavor, and I must try to navigate them more skillfully next time.
I won’t succeed at most.
One of the most important things that happened to me when I started my own business is that I moved the fear of failure aside. It’s not that I enjoy failing; I just understand that some things come only with experience and courage.
After understanding the true risks of any endeavor, I have a mantra that I repeat and helps me: “I’ll try, worst-case scenario, I won’t succeed.”
Know that it’s really okay to fail, and it doesn’t say anything bad about you.
Yes, it’s okay to fail. The saying that we learn from failure is true. The lesson you’ll learn from mistakes will help you understand how to do things better next time. Think about what you did right, what you can do better, and what you need to stop doing. It’s one of the easiest ways to analyze how to learn from failure.
Yes, it’s essential to plan and prepare for outcomes. I work according to the model:
Planning >> Execution >> Learning, which is, of course, cyclical and can help you improve each time.
Allow yourself to be in the experience without shame.
As humans, we tend to shy away from shame. It’s a powerful emotion that drives us and prevents us from trying.
Most of the time, those who look at us will appreciate our courage.
But let’s say you tried something and didn’t succeed – so what?
Allow yourself to be in the experience of something that didn’t work out, but don’t be ashamed.
The worst thing is to feel like a failure and be ashamed to try to put ourselves in the same situation again.
Get out of your comfort zone and prepare to be worse than anyone else.
It’s important to say that the fear of failure isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it can drive you to succeed.
But it’s important to keep taking risks. The most significant personal growth occurs when we step out of our comfort zones. But, of course, it also increases uncertainty.
If you’re genuinely prepared for the possibility that the outcome won’t be good, you’ll be able to get the most out of the situation.
At the same time, push hard and believe that you will succeed. The result, whatever it may be, will serve you if you can learn and develop from there.
Failure is a lesson, but you don’t have to take the same lesson twice.
There are different levels of failure.
If I tried something and didn’t succeed, and all I lost was time – okay, I could have progressed in that time, but I learned something new. If I tried something and the price of failure was 5,000 people losing their jobs and my business shutting down, then I took too big a risk.
I believe that even in our attempts, there should be clear risk management. It’s important to know in advance what you’ll lose if you fail. Sometimes failure comes with more than just discomfort.
It’s important to remember also to learn from the process and not to fail in the same thing again and again. Learning should guide us to succeed and develop further, not to be based on the same thing that didn’t work again and again. By the way, it doesn’t mean you have to give up on a project that didn’t succeed; you just need to try to approach it from a different angle.
In conclusion: We tend not to do things that are destined to fail. The fear of it freezes us, and we end up with too little progress, leading us to think that things can’t change or that success is for others.
Remember that success is for all of us; you just need to learn to embrace our lack of success and learn from it as well:)
