Failure is a pretty common occurrence in my life. A day doesn’t go by where I don’t manage to experience at least a moderate amount of defeat. Some days I eat a little too much or skip a workout. Other days, I can screw something up bad enough that it sends the whole system into a tailspin. But by learning to fail the right way, failure can actually be a positive experience.
If you look at your defeats in the proper attitude and context, you can really experience a lot of growth and be better off for it.
Fail With Enthusiasm – Don’t let past failures deter you from your goal.
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” ~Winston Churchill
Yesterday sucked. I woke up knowing that I was in the process of getting sick. I spent all day at work trying to correct a problem only to discover I was barking up the completely wrong tree. At home I was performing a dreaded OS reinstall when I find out that the new drivers I need haven’t even been written yet. Nutritionally, I somehow manage to consume enough food to fuel a family of Olympic athletes and the start of my new Ultimate Frisbee season was canceled due to rain. I was close (very close) to calling it a night at 7:30 and heading to bed.
Instead, however, I went to the gym. Tired, sick, and out of steam I somehow found myself deadlifting the horrible day away. Was it a great workout? No. Did I break any personal records? Not even close. But what mattered was that I turned the terrible experiences of the past few hours around by doing something positive for my body and my mind.
Every second of every day we have the option to choose failure or to choose perseverance. Which are you doing right now?
Fail Up – Try something big
“Failure is nature’s plan to prepare you for great responsibilities.” ~ Napoleon Hill
Trying anything new is a learning experience. However, imagine how much more you’ll learn if you try something BIG! When I began running, I certainly learned some painful lessons. Drink enough water or you’ll get dehydrated and may throw up. Stretch after workouts or you could be out of commission for a while nursing an injury.
However, when I started training for a marathon, it seemed like my knowledge grew exponentially. I learned what it felt like to physically run out of fuel. I learned what happened when you didn’t plan your training route very well. I also learned what it felt like running in 30 degree weather without gloves. These are lessons that I don’t imagine I’ll ever forget.
The bigger your goal, the more you can realistically learn from it.
Fail Often – Success can make you stale
“Success is never final; failure is never fatal” ~ Unknown
By failing you actually may learn more than by succeeding. Success can sometimes make people lazy. Either they think that they are naturally gifted as the smartest people in the world or they become so used to winning that they forget how to try hard. Believe it or not, this can happen. If you get used to being the “best” at something, your drive and passion will die out.
Failing enough times will teach you how to fight. Fight for something hard enough and you’ll know what real success (not luck or happenstance) feels like.
Fail Fast – Don’t be afraid to act
“I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
When you are so worried about failing that you never take the first step, that’s when you’ve really lost. Don’t plan so meticulously that you never get around to actually executing. Steve Pavlina has called this “Ready. Shoot. Aim.”
Take your shot at something you’d like to accomplish. If you don’t succeed, adjust your plan and try again. Keep adjusting your sights until you hit the target dead on. It’s much better to have a thousand misses and one bulls eye than to never take your shot in the first place.
Fail Without Fear – What is the worst possible scenario?
“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” ~ Sven Goran Eriksson
For the most part, the things we’re afraid of happening as a result of our failures aren’t actually that bad. Now this doesn’t really apply to all things (tightrope walking and skydiving come to mind) but if you’re honest, you’ll probably agree that the fear of failure is worse than actual failure.
I’m still really afraid of public speaking, but when I think it through, it’s silly to be so afraid of it. The worst thing that can happen is to make a fool out of myself. I literally do that everyday anyway, so what’s so bad about doing it once more? Maybe if I actively tried to swallow my pride and face my fear of humiliation head on, I’ll have little to fear when I actually try something new. Just a thought.
(photo by tibchris)
