Why do we fear failure? Why is failure such an ugly word? I fail every day. I fail when I don’t run as fast or as far as I want. I fail when I don’t get everything done that I need to get done. I fail when I allow my frustrations to rule my behavior. But instead of being brought down by these failures, I embrace them. Why? Because I know that just because I failed I am not a failure. Because with each failure I reasses, recalculate and work harder the next time to be a success.
Success teaches us nothing, it is failure that is the true teacher. Failure forces us to look into the mirror and inside ourselves to reassess why we did not succeed, what could we have done differently and what will we try next? Failure humbles us and allows us to not fear vulnerable. Vulnerability being the act of putting yourself out there and not knowing the outcome. Vulnerability is showing yourself and others that you believe in yourself but don’t know if success will be the end result though it is what is desired.
Failure makes us stronger, it makes us more determined and failure is the main paving stone to the path of success. We wouldn’t be who we are today without experiencing failure. Failure also means that you tried, that you took a chance. Many people are paralyzed by the fear of failure that they don’t even try. Don’t be paralyzed by the fear, embrace it and allow it to be the drive that pushes you to success. Success means you have set a goal and reached it. Enthusiasm is the power or fuel that first pushes us to set goals, it gives us the hope to dream big, it gives us the strength to push through failures and it is the desire to insure that success is reached. Live in your imagination and not in your memory. Live in a world where the possibilities are endless, regardless of the amount of failures you have experienced. Let those failures live in your memory, learn from them but don’t let them determine your vision of what can and will be. Don’t be bound by the limits of your memory. Keep your failures in the past, learn from them in the present and allow those lessons to guide you to your successful future.
What does your personal success look like? What failures have you experienced in reaching your goals? What lessons have you learned from those failures? What will you try next in order to reach those goals?