Life is filled with hurdles and obstacles and it is impossible to cross all of them without failing at least once. Experiencing failure is not a pleasant feeling. Failure causes us to feel worthless, become embarrassed, doubt ourselves, give up and become so afraid that we hesitate to try new things.
Just like we should not let success get to our head, we should not let fear of failure stop us from trying again. Rather than give in to failure, we should figure out where we went wrong and learn from our mistakes. We have to remember that failure is a normal and important part of life. Everyone has failed at some point in their life. In fact, it is impossible to go through life without failing even once. Albert Einstein once said, “A person who has never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
Come to think of it, if all people had given up after experiencing any failure in the past, the world today would have been a very different place.
Thomas Edison, a famous inventor, is most known for inventing the light bulb. But did you know that he failed 1,000 times before succeeding? Fortunately for us, he never gave up. Instead of admitting defeat, he said that he had not failed, but had discovered 1,000 ways that wouldn’t work.
J.K. Rowling’s world-famous book Harry Potter was rejected several times by publishers. However, she did not quit. She kept submitting her novel to various publishers for approval. She was rejected by 12 major publications until finally her book was published and it went on to become a bestseller and one of the most famous childrens’ books.
Clearly, failure is not always bad. Failure teaches us even more than success. It can help you achieve things you did not think were possible. It helps us realise our strengths and weaknesses and makes us stronger. We can also benefit from failure. Lessons such as humility gained through failure can encourage us to seek the support and help of friends or family, which helps improve our ideas and work on our flaws.
Here’s what to do after experiencing failure:
Ensure that you make a determined effort to figure out what went wrong. This can give you a clear insight into what to do and what to avoid in the future.
Find out why you missed signs of the failure. Using which, next time, try to figure out what could possibly fail and try to figure out how to stop it.
Don’t blame yourself. Failing is not a crime, but not learning from failure is.
Start with a blank slate. Do not assume you know what went wrong. Instead, study the problem with an open mind.
Ask others for advice on how to fix the problem and improve.
Be eager to learn.
It is important to always remember failure is inevitable. It isn’t a signal to give up. Rather, it is just an opportunity to learn, to correct mistakes, so that next time it is a success. Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, once said “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Hence, let us celebrate our imperfections, keep on daring to dream, and realise that there’s no such thing as failing, only learning and growing and living.
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