You probably already know this, but I will say anyway: you will fail. If you fail a little, you will fail a lot. You will fail so spectacularly that you will be ashamed of what happened.
You will fail in your business. You will fail in your relationship. You will fail in parenting. You will fail in exercise and diet, as well as keeping your car and home clean.
Even if you are unique and educated, and disciplined, you are human. And people fail. You are unique, yes, but not so special that failure will have nothing to do with you. You will fail over and over again. Because despite your best intentions, education, the books you read, and the video tutorials you watched, you will still fail.
But here’s what you need to know about failure. It can be helpful. Because if we allow it, failure teaches us what success does not. Failure opens our eyes; it teaches us humility and grace. It gives us a new path and often a new attitude to move forward.
And what’s more, everyone fails. Not everyone talks about it, but it happens to everyone. Here are four truths that failure reveals:
1. Failure is Not the Same as Defeat
It can be synonymous with defeat, but only if you think so. Failure is just a lesson. You did something, and it didn’t work. Would you please not do it again? It’s effortless. This does not mean that the sky has fallen, or you have to drop everything and leave with the traveling circus. This means that you tried to do something, and it didn’t work.
This means that you need to find another path or technique. This means that you can cross it off your list of things that “I’ve tried and it doesn’t work” and move on to what works. As Thomas Edison said: “I was not defeated. I just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”
2. The Problem is Temporary
You did something, and you failed, and it hurts. It’s like salt on a wound. It continues to bake until you rinse it out, but even then, the pain does not go away immediately. But in this case, it is mainly your pride that is hurt because failure is embarrassing, so no one likes to admit it.
And you go to bed, tears in your eyes because you screwed up badly. But here’s what to remember when going to bed. Tomorrow is a new day.
And every new day ends. This is a chance to start over. Of course, you can keep this setback with you from sunrise to sunrise, but you shouldn’t. Just try not to make the same mistakes tomorrow.
3. Now is Only Now, this is Not Forever
This is worth remembering. If you are now on the rise of your career and suddenly something happened, and you fell, this does not mean that you will remain in the hole forever. Just keep going forward, do not get hung up on what you have now, strive for more, develop, correct mistakes.
4. It is Only by Risking Failure That You Succeed
Any task worth completing carries the risk of failure, the risk of embarrassment, the risk of looking stupid or having to apologize. But another option is to sit quietly and not try to do anything. And believe me, many people do just that.
The perceived “fear of failure” is greater than the joy of success, so they never risk getting out of their corner. You have to step out of your comfort zone and follow the rocky road.
Yes, you will fail because everyone fails. You need to know and accept this.
But if you allow failure to teach you, you will grow over and over, every time. Cleverer. Humbler. And not be afraid to fail again.
Note: This post was supposed to be twice as long, but I failed and only wrote half.
