Have you ever felt disappointment because something did not happen?

Have you ever worked super hard on something, only to have no one like it?

Have you ever been absolutely clueless on how to approach a project, and so you work hard to figure out how you might do it, and put in countless hours, and then when the time to unveil and try it out it tanked?

Haven’t we all felt something like this?

 

Failure, disappointment, and unforeseen negative outcomes definitely deflate my bubble. When I put in the effort to make something really good, and it doesn’t work I feel personally hurt. Part of this is because I feel like I poured part of myself into what I’m doing. The other part is that it’s not necessarily what I wanted to happen. The thing with failure is that it actually is our greatest means of succeeding.

 

Let me say that again,

Failure is our greatest means of succeeding.

What does this mean? Failure is a means to show us how not to do things. Through elimination, we come closer to finding new ways to do everything. Failure brings us closer to success. Sure, it doesn’t feel any better when you fail, but it is a change in mindset that makes our failure so valuable. When we realize that there is success within our failures, it gives the opportunity to move forward towards our goals with a sense of purpose, knowing that we have eliminated one wrong way of doing something. So how do we view our failures as success in a healthy way?

  1. Write it down.
    • By keeping record of the wrong ways of doing something, you have the chance to look at the course that you’ve travelled on your way to achieving your goals. By having this record, you can look back and figure out the way to plot a shorter course the next time you try a similar project or goal.
  2. Keep moving towards your end result.
    • Ernest Hemingway said, “Do not confuse motion with action.” This quote is 100% applicable to the ways that we approach failure and trying to succeed. When we fail, doing anything isn’t the best option. Our best bet is to look at our end result, and take action to move towards it. If that alternate course fails we continue to look towards the end and continue to move towards it. Action towards our goals is key.
  3. Don’t do it alone.
    • When we fail, the worst thing to do is to let it linger in our minds without anyone else’s eyes on it. I know it can be embarrassing to share failure with others, but what this vulnerability does is it allows our situation to be seen from a different perspective. It also gives us the opportunity to have someone give us ideas on how to move forward that we may have never thought of before. So, don’t approach your failure alone.

Thomas Edison said in regards to inventing the lightbulb, “I have not failed. I have found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” When we approach our failure as a means to success, we change the outcome of all the work we put in. All of our efforts, blood, sweat, and tears become worthwhile.

 

Failure is our greatest means of succeeding.

 

– Mitch (and the LifeSuccess.com Team)

5209 Hohman Avenue
Ste 127
Hammond, IN 46320

LifeSuccess.com | Copyright 2017 | Legal