MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY Failing at failing By Kihoro Gicheru “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” The blatant uncanniness of being is that failure is a required part of the human existence. That success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable and success without failure is as rare as turkey milk, as is painless failure. Failure is not only an inevitable, but essential part of life. Failure can range from debilitating to inconsequential but stinging. For example enthusiastically raising your hand and confidently shouting the answer in a big hall or classroom only for it to be shockingly wrong. Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective and everyone, I repeat everyone experiences failure. What do the following people have in common? Michael Jordan, Abraham Lincoln, J.K Rowling, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Steven Spielberg, Steve Jobs, Soichiro Honda, Lance Armstrong, Marilyn Monroe, Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Walt Disney, Lionel Messi, Eminem, The Beatles, Dr. Seuss, Ludwig van Beethoven, Henry Ford, Stephen King, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Elvis Presley, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charlie Chaplin. First is that they have all faced repeated or miserable failure if not both or worse and second is that they are all phenomenal in their respective fields. In a Nike advert Michael Jordan says, “I have missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. 26 times I have been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I have failed over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” This is the man who after getting cut from his high school basketball team locked himself in his room and cried. Everybody experiences failure but not everyone knows success. Why? Most people fail at failing. There are two ways you can fail at failing. 1.FAILING TO FAIL. If you were absolutely guaranteed of success, indestructible and can accomplish any goal you ever set for yourself; what would you do differently? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Theodore Roosevelt once wrote ‘Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.’ You cannot have a great career or succeed unless you dare to achieve, and daring to achieve greatly is daring to fail greatly. Yet many are not free to strive for success without reservation, to explore, take risks, and vigorously pursue their dreams. We fear to fail. We fear to be ostracized by our peers and branded as losers if we fail or are seen to be over ambitious. A ship is safe in harbor, but thats not what ships are for. Who is better? He who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? “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.” J.K Rowling. The only safe thing is to take a chance. Success is born when failure meets persistence or when chance meets preparation. And is preparation not daring? Don’t let anything stop you, be it feelings of doubt or undeservedness or common opinions. Remember though to not set yourself up for failure; it does not work like that. Your guts should not be bigger than your brain but almost. The fear of failure should only spur you to give the best of your best or to succeed at failing. 2. FAILING TO LEARN The wisdom of learning from failure is incontrovertible. Yet people and organizations that do it well are extraordinarily rare. Failure is supposed to be the great teacher that teaches you how not to fail. The problem is failure might be a great teacher, but it is also a cryptic one. Figuring out its lessons is not easy, especially when were still nursing a bruised ego and swimming in frustration, disappointment, demoralization, embarrassment, resentment, or hopelessness. Forgive yourself, don’t take it too personally. Failure is in no way a negative reflection of yourself as a person. Embrace your failure and reflect on it soberly. Reevaluate your planning and execution. Focus on the variables in your control. The truth is, we always have more control over things than we realize. You are not defined by your failure but prepared by it. Never be too hard on yourself, hard yes but not too hard. You will have to rise up and say, ‘I don’t care how hard this is, I don’t care how disappointed I am, I’m not going to let this get the best of me. I’m moving on with my life.” The secret is to learn. Failure teaches important life skills, such as commitment, patience, determination, decision making, and problem solving. It helps us respond positively to the frustration and disappointment that we will often experience as we pursue our goals. Failure teaches us humility and appreciation for the opportunities that we are given. Don’t straighten out your critics and don’t feel down by those who point and jeer. Little people belittle people. Shake it off and run your own race. If that battle is not between you and your destiny it’s a distraction. Most people in the process of covering up their failure from supervisors, colleagues, friends, or real or imagined critics convince themselves of its non existence and therefore don’t learn from it. Most of us have a ready well tailored success story but no fail story. Something almost all inspirational successful people have. Therefore we fail to truly impact others. Bosses who let people make and learn from their mistakes get a devoted and motivated workforce. Today is the day tomorrow will love you for. Between where you are now and where you want to be in life, there are an unknown, but finite, number of mistakes to be made, embarrassing in some but if you take everything as a learning experience, be willing to loose, take chances, get beat up and keep on trying. You will get there. Greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, elusive, godlike feature only the special among us will ever taste. It’s something simple but immense that exists in all of us. And finally in the lexicon of winners failure is not the opposite of success but a building block of success. Have a blessed Monday and a fruitful week.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 04:47:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015