‘Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.’- Henry Ford
This quote by Ford is one of my favorite quotes to date because it advises all of us to be less scared of failures and be more open to experimentation. So you guessed it right, in this post my lovely Steemians, I’ll be talking about how failing and trying is integral to success and why you should let go of the fear you have associated with failure.
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Failure Doesn’t Define Who You Are
The word failure has quite a bad reputation. Instead viewing a failure as a mere setback and an obstacle that you experienced while trying to do something and succeeding at it, you perceive it as a declaration of your stupidity, incompetence and inability to accomplish your goals. No, my friends, failure in no way defines you in any way and isn’t a sign of your weakness or your inability to do something. Instead, it just a simple unfortunate experience you encountered because you tried doing something.
When you try your hand at something, especially something new and different, you’re likely to err and falter. This is perfectly fine because you are completely new at that thing. Even if you weren’t new to something that you tried and had some experience in doing it, you’re still likely to make a few mistakes because things and situations keep changing. And even if you were an expert, still there’s a likelihood of erring because the world around us keeps changing and defining things differently. So when you make a mistake or two when trying to do something, it is no way a declaration of your lack of potential.The fact that you tried doing something shows that you want to be successful at what you tried doing and if you keep consistent at it, one day you will eventually accomplish your goal even if you failed a 1000 times before achieving it.
If failure was a sign of weakness and a lack of talent, Thomas Edison wouldn’t have gathered the fame and success he is popular for. Before inventing the light bulb, he made about a 10,000 failed attempts but did he give up on his dream? No, he didn’t. He went forward with his ideas, learned from his mistakes and powered through.Colonel Sanders who is now renowned for his fried chicken went through a 10009 failed attempts until he created his successful recipe that helped him accomplish all the success he had aspired for. If failure was a statement of a lack of talent and ability, these accomplished people wouldn’t have actualized their goals.
Failure is not something to be afraid of. It is in fact, a learning opportunity in disguise but to understand that, you need to change your perception of failure.
Change the Way You Perceive Failure
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To change the way you look at failure, you need to first understand the importance of having a few failures or let’s just say unfortunate and undesirable experiences in your life. These experiences aren’t here to weaken you or sabotage your self-esteem. Rather, they knock your door to help you become better than before by giving you an understanding of your mistakes and the areas that you need to improve on. To change your perception of failures, stop looking at them with negativity. Instead, breathe, relax yourself and tell yourself it’s alright when you err and flounder.
Secondly, stop being so afraid to do things because of the fear of failure and take action any way. I just published my first book on Amazon (I’ll write a post on it in a few days when it goes live) and before I did that, I was extremely scared of doing that. I was scared my book won’t sell and I’ll make a fool of myself in front of people who knew I was working on my book and those who think women can’t do anything right. Due to this fear, I put this idea on hold for a long time unless I wrote a book on failure and how it helps you become successful for a client. While researching for that book, I came across many stories of successful people who went through innumerable setbacks before making it big in their respective industry and the importance of failing early in your life.
When you go through a few setbacks early in your life, you learn more and have more time at your hand to improve on those areas and become better with each try. That book really helped me get over my fear of failure and pushed me forward to venture into self-publishing. I’m still a little skeptical of my book since it’s my first try but at least I’m not afraid of trying and failing now. I won’t stop writing even if the book doesn’t do well and will instead learn from my mistakes. I just went through my book once more now and noticed a big typo lol so I just learned from a mistake I made. Anyhow, coming back to the topic, instead of overthinking stuff and making a mountain out of a molehill, start doing things you want to do and learn from every experience you have. A good way to learn from your mistakes is to journal daily. I haven’t yet nurtured this habit but plan to do so soon enough.
The next time you encounter a setback, embrace it, hug yourself hard and power through. I’m sure victory will be yours soon. Please do upvote this post and resteem it since it helps me gain more recognition and improve my chances to earn more money (need more of it since going to put my son to school) and do follow me. Thank you for all your help!