Failure should not be looked at as an obstacle but more as an essential part on our path to success.
Why is failure important in life?
Some of the world’s most successful people experienced epic failure but with their drive and determination they overcame disappointing episodes and reached their glorious achievements. Such celebrated successful people include Steven Spielberg who was rejected twice by the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, Thomas Edison who was told by his teacher he was ‘too stupid to learn anything’, Walt Disney who was told by his former newspaper editor he ‘lacked imagination and had no good ideas’, Albert Einstein who as a child was thought to be mentally handicapped and J.K. Rowling who before reaching success experienced depression.
It makes one wonder, hadn’t it been for the failure encountered on their path, would these personalities have flown to success just the same? Such stories are inspirational and teach us that rather than being a let-down, failure is something to embrace.
Sam Weinman, the sports journalist behind Win at Losing: How Our Biggest Setbacks Can Lead to Our Greatest Gains states that losing does not feel great but believes that failure can be inspiring if we know how to approach it the right way.
He explains that first we need to eliminate fear of failure and shares the idea that setbacks are often moments that serve as a catalyst for great opportunity. Loosing draws attention to specific flaws that need addressing. If you are successful all the time you will not be stimulated to change method and will ultimately not discover anything new and better. In addition, if you never experience failure you will never develop coping skills. These coping skills are the reason why successful people are able to face the storm and come up with solutions instead of letting problems blow in their face.
What are the long term benefits of failing at something?
Failure Can Teach Us A Lesson - We learn every day and failure can be an efficient teacher. In our careers, in our financial lives, and in our daily struggle, learning what not to do is just as important as learning what to do.
Failure Keeps You Going Strong - The biggest enemy of long-term success is the enemy within you. History is full with stories of success stories. But success stories do not come without failure. Failure is often referred to as the force that keeps us moving forward. Do not forget that fortune can disappear in a second, competition never sleeps, and that every market boom/trend can go bust at any time.
Failure Fights Fear - Failure can overcome fears. Once you've faced it, it becomes the enemy you know. This encounter can guide you with the confidence that a stumble or fall won't be the end of your story.
Failure Reconnects Us to Our Objectives - Imagine this, regardless how financial savvy you are, you slip. All of a sudden, you amass a whopping amount of consumer debt and you are in a serious mental breakdown. Things happen and for that reason comes failure - it reconnects us to our objectives in life and how to be more responsible. (6 Attitudes That Breed Financial Failure). When mistakes are closely monitored, things slowly start to change and failure reconnects us to our goals to grow.
Failure Inspires Creative Thinking - Sometimes, the best decision in life comes from the most unpredictable corner. For instance, you are pretty comfortable where you are in a very solid financial institution or a big tech firm, however things change abruptly. You are made redundant and need to come up with a solution - why things have happened this way. The situation forced you to re-evaluate what you really want in life. Then things slowly start to turn in your favour. Your new focus has initiated you to start your own business without any financial glitches. Though it might have been for certain things could go wrong at anytime, that job loss forced you to put something new — and ultimately, more rewarding — in motion. (11 Famous Failures That Led to Success).
Failure Makes Us More Valuable as Mentors - The most qualified professors are those who have been through thick and thin. A large part of effective mentorship is helping anticipate and avoid pitfalls, stay focused, and respond to challenges with creativity and optimism.
How do you overcome failure?
Focus on efficiency instead of speed– sometimes the pressure of finding a job and wanting to apply to as many jobs as possible can trick you. When we’re too focused on speed, accuracy tends to slip through the cracks, hence your CV application put on the side as you might have applied for the same job twice.
It’s much better to put your focus on certain jobs and trying to stand out. It may take a little longer to get your CV more attractive but it’s better than being rejected over and over again.
Don’t Procrastinate– do not take things for granted as putting last edits on your CV until the last-minute means you don’t have time to double-check and correct any mistakes you did make. Do your research and focus on each job carefully.
Instead of procrastinating, learn to push yourself to be productive every day with little things and gradually improving instead of last-minute preparations. It is also important to note to take breaks — in fact, Microsoft Corp.’s Japan branch just proved how productivity improved by about 40 percent in a rare corporate experiment to test a four-day work system
So, spend your time wisely and do not rush things. Make a list of tasks and tick off one at a time by prioritising them. This may well be your ingredient to stand out in an interview.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions– it does not harm anyone to ask questions. Do not be shy! Asking your boss or supervisor questions can be daunting but also rewarding. Employers would much rather have you asking questions than making mistakes down the line. Asking questions shows you want to understand things better and are eager to learn. Those are always good traits for employees. It shows you care about the work you do and you want it to be as perfect as possible.
What is the value of failure?
Without failure, we wouldn't be as good to each other or as compassionate. We’d be less capable of empathy, kindness, and great achievement; we would be less likely to dream big. As a matter of fact, failure is needed so that we learn the greatest lessons that life could teach us.
What failure can teach us?
J.K. Rowling states, “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”
Deep down most of us know we can do better and unless we are courageous enough to take the plunge nothing new and interesting will come our way.
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