To succeed, one must fail

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We are so used to being afraid of mistakes and failures that we prefer not to take risks and not try, and if we are defeated, we do not want to start over. But there is no growth without mistakes, you cannot achieve something without making mistakes and without experiencing failures and failures. Maybe you should change your attitude to failure once and for all?

We get used to being afraid of mistakes while still in school. If you were given a two, then you are the worst of all. You failed, lost and covered your name with shame. It doesn't matter what lesson you learned from this, learned something new or not. With this approach to education, it's no surprise that in adulthood, we are all wildly afraid of making mistakes and embarrassing ourselves.

Despite our fear, making mistakes is a common part of any business. A series of right and wrong actions is the usual process of completing any task. But even if you admit it, the fear of mistakes that accompanies you from school will not disappear anywhere.

The very organic life on our planet is the result of trial and error in a long process of evolution. Why should you move forward differently? Without failure, you cannot correct mistakes, change, and improve. It turns out that failure is a good thing.

Successful people make mistakes too

It's hard to imagine that successful people make mistakes too, that they too have setbacks and failures. But it is, and the stories of failure that some successful people share only prove it.

• David Neeleman, co-founder of the US budget airline JetBlue Airways, has been fired from his position as vice president of Southwest Airlines. A rich experience of mistakes and achievements helped him create his own airline.
• Wanda Sykes, an acclaimed comedian, actress and Emmy award-winning writer, failed on stage before her name became famous.
• Howard Schultz, chairman of Starbucks, reached out to 240 investors for his vision of a modern European coffee shop, and 99% of investors turned him down.
• Jesse Jacobs, owner of the Samovar Tea Lounge, bypassed 71 banks before receiving funding.
• Ben Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, suffered a flop at a very early age when his mother submitted his composition to an arts competition. When the results of the competition were announced, the judge said that Ben's composition was so bad that he should not continue to compose music.

Think of life as a game

Video game developers continually cite studies that show that players get the most out of the game when they lose and try again.

You probably also remember these moments, when during the game "Tetris" the last block falls and the game ends, or when Mario spends his last life and you click on "Play again". Now you know more about this level and you are one step closer to completing it.

Your brain knows it’s a video game and doesn’t see defeat as a reason to give up. On the contrary, failure is perceived as a delightfully interesting and exciting challenge. And you keep playing until you pass the level (or until you get bored).

We develop through trial and error, and there is no better reward than overcoming defeat and solving a seemingly insoluble problem. Failure stimulates a person to move forward and gives him a chance to become better.

Failure Teaches Better Than Victory

Using failure as a tool for introspection and follow-up is a great position in life, and many people take full advantage of its opportunities. For example, Paralympic and six-time world wheelchair champion Jeff Adams.

Jeff doesn't let his disability get in the way of his love of the sport, and his iron determination helps him win the Paralympic Games. Through his failures, Jeff found an inner core.

When I talk to students, I talk about the races I lost. Because failure teaches me more. This is the time that I am growing.

One of Jeff's most significant losses came during the summer games in Barcelona.

I went through the last lap with two other guys, and something like, “Today my life is going to change. The last circle works best for me. I'm at the home stretch with only two guys, and they give me three medals in total. Success is guaranteed. But I made the mistake of not checking my equipment enough.

Jeff's seat broke on the last lap and he flew out of the sidecar, facing the race track.

I have lost. And the best day turned into the worst. We are accustomed to the fact that the main thing is victory. But perhaps defeat and suffering, overcoming and courage are more important? We do not attach such importance to this as victories.

I won the race in Sydney and it was a wonderful day. But what have I learned? What's great when you have a wonderful day? This is the strangeness of life: you learn much faster when it's not easy, when things aren't going smoothly.

Defeat is nothing more than a result. It may not be what you hoped for, but it is a fact that cannot be changed. You cannot fight the facts or hide from them.

Failure is about getting information. This is a new fact for further work. Now you have learned something that you did not know before. Any results, good or bad, lead to new actions, reinforced by new information, with more thoughtful risks, and they all bring you closer to your goal.

Changing the meaning of the word

Let's change the attitude towards failure, change even the very meaning of the word. This is how we used to think.

Failure

1. Undesirable outcome of something, lack of success.

2. An unfavorable set of circumstances.

Synonyms: misfortune, bad luck, failure, defeat, fiasco.

Let's try this.

Failure

1. A critical part of the process of growth and experience.

Synonyms: personal growth, learning, experiment.

Think about the circumstances of your life that you (now or at that moment) consider a failure. Using the new definition of this word, create a two-column list of failures. In the first, there will be the failures themselves, and in the second, what they taught you.

Fill in both columns and see what you've learned from your failures. At the same time, memories of failures can still cause a storm of negative emotions in you. This is fine.

Just focus on what you have learned from these failures. How did you grow up after that? How has your life changed in a positive way? What are you doing differently now than before? How do you develop and maintain confidence in order to try again?

There is nothing wrong with failure as such. It is bad if a person does not know how to learn from his mistakes and grow thanks to such situations. This is a real failure.

Failure is part of life

Craig Brewer, director of hits such as Hustle and Beat and The Moan of the Black Snake, also believes mistakes and setbacks are essential to growth.

Early in his career, Craig and friends and family decided to create a masterpiece of cinema. Giving up their job in favor of a dream and investing their own savings into the project, they set to work on the creation of the great American film.

Did they succeed? Craig replies with a smile: “It was a complete failure. It takes about $ 30,000 more to make this film. And I don't think I'll ever do it."

And this failure was far from the last. It was the first failure on Craig's long journey.

We are all wrong. And quite often.

The fear of error is deeply embedded in every person, but Craig found a way for himself to deal with it. He believes that failure is part of life. The painful part that can be rough and dirty, but inevitable. So you just have to accept it.

You know that you will lose from time to time. The only way to get better is to fail. So fail. Let this process take its course. Don't stop or postpone it because it will only hurt more with age.

If people don't want to experience this pain, they get married and have children, then they blame their families and circumstances, and in fact, they just don't want to experience failure. So, if you want to be successful, take it easy.

Craig Brewer

How to know what you are worth

Randii Wessen, a systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has applied to the astronaut training program 15 times in a row. And he was not accepted.

His papers contain rejection letters from graduate school, internships, aerospace companies, and even from the laboratory where he now works.

“You can find out what each person is worth by how they deal with problems,” says Randii. - What do you do when you get a lousy grade? What do you do when you get rejected from university? What do you do when someone breaks off a relationship with you? This is how you get yourself out of trouble, it makes you stronger and really shows you where you are."

The one who challenges is in danger of losing. Whoever does not do this has already lost.

Randy Wessen

Defeat is not the end of the story. In fact, it is not even a defeat. Mistakes and epic failures are a useful tool to help you follow your path. Take risks. Lose it. Make a mistake.

If things don't go the way you intended, if you fall flat on your face in the mud, reconsider your methods and try again. Failure is just a result, nothing else. This is a series of lessons you need to learn to become the best version of yourself.