If, At First, You Don’t Succeed, Never Try Again?
5 ways to embrace setbacks as stepping stones for success.
We are taught to fear failure.
For the first 18 years of our lives, we attend classes where a D or F is catastrophic — passing is the only means to success.
Fearing failure is programmed in us. Now, even in adulthood, we make decisions to avoid an F. Isn’t an A what we should be chasing? The older we grow, the safer we play it. Convinced, the path most traveled is the path for us. A nice, stable office job to keep until we retire.
Fearing frequent job changes will lead to unemployment. We prioritize safety over growth. Because growth is perceived as risky. We now have more to lose. A car. A house. A partner. — A lifestyle.
There’s a problem with this, though.
Life doesn’t care about your strategy. It doesn’t care about your lifestyle. And nothing is as guaranteed as failure. So, how does one who’s playing it safe — fail?
Opportunity is a fragile thing.
It requires you to be at the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. If one thing is off, then the opportunity will be missed. Imagine knowing you missed an opportunity. Or living a life you aren’t happy with.
That constant voice in the back of your head —
“I should have…”
“What if I…”
That’s a failure that tortures you.
With failure guaranteed on all sides, wouldn’t you want to live freely? What if I told you there were ways to use failures to boost your success? No more hiding. No more safety. — this article is about failing better. Using failure as a means to your success. Here are 5 ways:
1. No Repeats: Learn and Adapt
- Making mistakes is okay, but repeating them is a waste of time.
- Use each mistake as a lesson and shortcut your steps by learning your lessons the first time.
- Look for the lessons in each mistake.
2. Move Fast: Embrace a Growth Mindset
- Don’t waste time trying to avoid making new mistakes.
- Put your energy into trying to achieve your goal.
- Use the self-fulfilling prophecy to your advantage.
3. Work on Your Weaknesses: Targeted Improvement
- Your mistakes will highlight areas that need improvement.
- This will be your guide to the shortest path to your goal.
- Reflect on your failures and analyze what you will need to work on.
4. Destigmatize Failure: Foster a Positive Perception
- The more you fail, the less scary it becomes.
- If you consider failure a step to success, then you will maintain an optimistic approach to your journey.
- Having optimism, even in the midst of failure, can greatly increase motivation.
5. Embrace Flexibility: Adapt to Changing Circumstances
- Sometimes, failing is a sign that you need to try something new.
- Don’t keep running into a brick wall.
- Along your journey, opportunities may appear.
- Those new opportunities can be better than where you were headed.
- Remain flexible on your journey and be okay with change.
Reflection
- Denying yourself the right to fail is denying what makes you human.
- Humans are imperfect, and that’s what makes us perfect.
- Our ability to adapt and grow is the most vital asset.
- It‘s a waste of our latent potential to avoid the things that make us grow.
- Failure is growth — as long as we use it responsibly.
- We can all be better.
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