Seven Reasons Why Failure is a Good Thing
Everyone knows about that dreaded “f” word that most of us are so afraid of: failure. No one wants to experience it, but we all do, from time to time. And some of us will experience it more than others. But it’s not really such a bad thing. Although failing is not fun, it is an important rite of passage because there are many important lessons that we can glean from it. Therefore, today I will be discussing seven reasons why failure is actually a good thing.
Why It’s OK to Fail
1. It keeps you grounded in reality.
We would all likely agree that success is intoxicating. It’s something that no matter how much is obtained, we just can’t get enough of it. But if left untethered, the balloon known as ego can fly so high that it becomes uncontrollable. That feeling of power is not a healthy one once it becomes an addiction. Failure is one effective method of keeping us grounded in reality by reminding us who we are, where we came from, and what is perception versus reality. If we only focus upon our success, we may become stagnant by that inflated perception of ourselves. Instead, we should harness the power of reality and keep pushing forward. An added bonus is that self-awareness also keeps us compassionate.
2. It makes you tough.
When we fail, we always have options. We can give up, try again, or change course. At times we cause our own failures, but many times, they are not within our control. When they are not, we are still in control of how we move forward after it. If we choose to try again or change course, then that experience did have at least one positive after-effect in that it made us tough.
3. You can always try again.
The game of life isn’t a one-time, half-court shot for the $50,000 grand prize. When we mess up, we can always give it another try. Even if we miss out on our “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to get what we want in this life, inevitably another opportunity always comes around, even if it is presents itself differently. Even though I love Eminem’s song “Lose Yourself”, I’m going to have to disagree with the song’s mentality that we only have “one shot or one opportunity” or “one chance to seize everything [we] ever wanted in one moment”.
It paints a perfect picture for Eminem’s movie Eight Mile, but in real life, that thought is quite depressing. It is true none of us knows how long we have in this life, so in theory, any given opportunity could be our last. However, as long as we are still breathing and allow ourselves to keep an eye out for whatever is headed our way next, then we can always try again.
4. It’s a quick way to learn.
It’s often been said that diamonds take 1-3 billion years to form. Some scientists are now refuting that, saying it only took millions of years. But still, either way that is a huge amount of time! True success takes time, apparently. Luckily, it doesn’t have to take us as long as it did for the diamonds, although sometimes it might metaphorically feel like it does. One of the quickest ways to learn something is to fail at it. Think of failure as the CliffsNotes in the guide to success. Because we can know exactly what went wrong, that places us in a much better position to know how to do it right. Each experience teaches us perseverance and gives us insight we couldn’t have had otherwise. This is why embracing our failures can be an efficient way to learn.
5. Everybody does it.
Literally everyone fails. And interestingly, some of the most successful people are the ones who experienced failure the most but never gave up.
Sebastian Kipman provides a list of “15 Highly Successful People Who Failed on Their Way to Success”:
Sir James Dyson
Steven Spielberg
Thomas Edison
Walt Disney
Albert Einstein
J.K. Rowling
Abraham Lincoln
Jerry Seinfeld
Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss)
Oprah Winfrey
Stephen King
Vincent Van Gogh
Elvis Presley
Michael Jordan
Charles Darwin
I bet you have heard of most, if not all, of these household names. This is just a tiny sampling of such success stories. Think about what would have happened if they had given up.
This is applicable to each of us, as well. It is possible we are just one more failure to our next big success. Does that inspire you? It sure does me! Perhaps that is why I always am telling people to never give up. The success you’ve been dreaming of could be just around the next corner.
6. It means you actually tried.
Honestly trying something is difficult. “Phoning it in” doesn’t count. Why is it often so hard for us to really try for something? This is typically because taking that first step is so scary! We get caught in a limbo of not knowing if we will win or fall flat on our face. Another interesting thing to consider is sometimes we try and succeed, only to discover that what we “won” was not what we wanted after all. That places us right back to square one. But alas, none of that can occur without us taking that first crucial step of trying. So, try we must.
7. You find out it won’t kill you.
Spoiler alert: it turns out we don’t actually die from failure. How interesting! Also, that feeling of “dying inside” when we inevitably mess up? No, that won’t kill us either. The fear of failing actually typically ends up being worse than the actual failure. That has to do with that pesky fear of the unknown psychological complex that we all experience. While failure does absolutely suck, it’s nothing we can’t handle or move on from.
We Are Stronger Than We Know
Now we’ve established some reasons why failure isn’t always a bad thing. As Oprah Winfrey said, “Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.” Therefore, sometimes failure is just the beginning of an even better story. We simply have to keep our eyes open for the opportunities, as they present themselves. As Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Just because we succeed doesn’t mean the hard work is done, because success can be fleeting. And as we’ve learned, failure isn’t the end of the story either. We are each in control of our own story, we just have to keep on turning the page.
Questions, comments, or just need to chat? Send me a direct message via LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram.
Cheers until next time,
Crystal
