Introduction

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill.

You don’t like to fail. Let’s Face it. No one does.

Why? 

“ People love success stories, but freak out at the prospect of failure. If you want success in any aspect of your life, then you have to embrace failure and build on the benefits it generates” – Michael Lindenmayer ( Forbes)

The fear of failure is a reason why you never pursue your dreams. 

You’re scared of what they would say “if you failed”.

So you spend your time doing the opposite and acting like you do not have big dreams.

Newsflash – no one is looking for you to fail, everyone is busy with their life’s also

2nd news flash – You would never achieve success without some forms of failures, obstacle of set back – this is what toughens you.

The one difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is while one embraces failure and all its benefits, the other hits one obstacle and is completely defeated.

Failing doest make you a failure, not learning from the lessons and giving up is what does.

 

Since failure is a requirement for success, why does everyone hate it?

It is because while success is gratifying because it comes with fame, money, recognition, praise and many other elements which makes one feel good about themselves. 

Failure is harsh, it shows you an inadequacy that needs to be IMPROVED upon.

So how do you navigate through your failures without losing focus?

By keeping at the forefront of your mind what lessons you can learn from failing.

Once you know these lessons, it is easier to lean into trying new things as you realise, failing at something means you are willing to improve at it.

Persistence, grit and showing up everyday would help you overcome just about anything but you have to be prepared to fail and sometimes fail big as that is where the biggest lessons come from.

 

Lessons Only Failure Can Teach You About Success

 

• Failures are Life Lessons.
  

Too often you are quick to see your failures as the end of the world 

You think there is no hope and if it is a failure that most people know about, you tend to withdraw in your shells.

But you and I know failures are just that – FAILURES. It does DEFINE you but not in the way you think and I would show you how to flip the script. Why?

Because once you embrace your  failures boldly, you start to see your past failures as life lessons and as a result you are not as “scared” of the “unknown”.

Do you remember learning to walk? – 

Do you know how many months you “failed at it?”

You crawled, tried to stand on your own and would fall – every adult around would laugh at you but with spittle dribbling down your innocent face, you had the COURAGE to stand again and TRY.

Next thing you walk for 3 steps you fall down, giggle with the adults who are laughing at you and cheering you on.

Now look at you – you can run without even thinking about it.

Imagine what your life would look like if you had “quit” – because people laughed, or your tried to walk and “fell”(failure)

As with most things in your life, you define the narrative.

You younger self would try anything repeatedly in different ways till you succeeded.

If you look back at your life you would see some experience you thought would be the end of you – you have survived and there are things you are great at now that you failed repeatedly in the beginning.The only major difference is that you decided to give it your all again.Failure teaches us that success is possible if you keep “grinding”.

 

 

• Failure Teaches You New Ways of Doing Things  

“I have not failed, I just found out 10,000 ways that won’t work” – Thomas Edison 

       In creating the light bulb, Thomas Edison tried and “failed” 10,000 times – can you imagine how the world would look like if he had given up at the 99th time? Or at the 1000th time?

Failure gives you new insight of how things can work, but you have to keep trying. If one way doesn’t work, you know something that doesn’t work.

 On your next try you can try something else. Try a different combination or strategy.

You are not starting over, rather you are starting with “experience” from having tried something that failed.

If you keep waiting for the perfect way to get something done and don’t get started for the fear of failure you would never get started or succeed.Do you remember how you learned to operate your phones?

You did not have the manuals (or go through them at all) , you just knew the basics and with time and “various trials and errors” you quickly learned what works and what does not. 

Failure would open you up to new ways of doing things and this is  how you can get closer to whatever your definition of success is to you.

 

 

• Failure helps you improve:

 

Failure has many benefits like you are beginning to understand better. So what happens when you are not failing? –

“You’re probably not growing either” If you’re winning at everything you do, you are probably not trying new things and are stuck in your comfort zone.

It is okay to be comfortable and be in your comfort zone ( they don’t call it a comfort zone for nothing) but if you are not working to improve, you are going back.

There is no way you can grow if you remain stagnant. Embracing failure gives you the self confidence to try out new things. 

You begin to challenge yourself to try new things as you know that if you fail, there is a lesson or better still  blessing that can come of it.

 

 

• Failure means you’re a work in progress : 

 

On your journey to living your best life, you would be faced with many challenges and obstacles.

Most of these challenges would be hard hitting especially if it concerns your business, career or personal life.

However, one lesson you should keep at the back of your mind is that you are a work in progress.

When you fail at a task, do not give in to feelings of regrets but instead flip the narrative in your head. 

“You are a work in progress.”

No one has it all figured out. 

I came across a blog post I wrote two years ago and it was a mess. 

At the time, I wanted to write more blog posts on my website and get better. 

I failed with the alignment of my images, my words were all over the place,

if I had listened to myself and qut then (even then I knew it was not up to par) as compared to articles I had read from other blogs. 

But I am better now and my writings have improved – ans would continue to.

 I just write and when I feel stuck I remind myself that “ I am a work in progress.

“You should realise you are a work in progress also and everything you try, even when you fail at it, is okay – because you’re learning – You’re growing.

Give yourself the permission to fail and the only people who would criticise you are those not doing anything with their lives anyway so? 

It is also easier to Criticise than to Create. 

Not failing means you are not learning,  if you’re not learning-you are not growing, Without growth you’d never be successful.

 

• Lessons learned from failure sticks longer with you:

 

If you fail at a task and continually go at it till you succeed, the lessons learned stay with you for a longer time. 

You are also in a better position to help people “solve problems”. 

You can offer advice, opinions and important information that can be beneficial and helpful to others when you have honed your skills better. 

You only get better by learning, trying and allowing yourself to fail without judgement.

Conclusion

Failure makes you a better person once you understand and embrace the lessons that can be gained from it ( honestly that is the only thing you can do that is productive).

Any other decision you take to grow in life would be better enhanced by having a failure friendly mindset as this would enable you grow into a better version of yourself and help you towards achieving your own idea of “success”

Think of every superhero movie you have watched, there is always a point when the Hero/Heroine makes a mistake and they fail at some important tasks… what happens if they quit at that point? – the movie would be a bore, you would hate it- hollywood/nollywood would be out of business.

The hero/heroine would TRY something different.

Your life is a movie of some sort – but a serious one, so make sure you push past failures with the lessons learnt.

There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs and these stairs include “failures in all doses.” Learn from them and continue to grow.

Other recommendations:30 Powerful Quotes on Failure

Why Embracing Failure Is Good for Business

Written by Brother Jude  @Askchiadika