Failure! We’ve all experienced it. It doesn’t feel good. It can actually feel
pretty horrible. Trying your
hardest to do something important and failing is when it really stings and
shakes your confidence. However, failure cannot be avoided unless you totally avoid doing anything at all and I highly recommend against that.
Don't think for a
second that you're the only person on the planet to fail. Often we look at the
success of others and assume they have everything together when the reality is
that they encounter failure just as much as anyone. Some are better at hiding
it or overcoming it better than others, but failure is universal.
The important skill to
learn from failure is to not wallow in the failure but to GET UP. If the world
hasn’t ended then there is still time for you to try again.
Here are few tips to overcome failure:
1. Don’t
let it become who you are.
Failure is something that happens, not who you are.
Just because you have failed at something does not mean YOU are a failure. Be
sure to keep the lines clear between making mistakes and being someone who only
makes mistakes. Our actions may define us, but our failures do not. The actions
you take to move past the failure and reach success will define you. Just because
you failed today or yesterday does not mean that you will fail the next time
that you try.
As an inventor, Thomas Edison made well over 1,000
unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. During an interview he was
asked, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison replied, “I didn’t fail
1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.” Perfect example
of not taking failure personal.
2. Stop
dwelling on it.
Dwelling or even obsessing over your failure will not
change the outcome. It actually will do the opposite and intensify the outcome,
trapping you in a downward negative emotional spiral. You cannot change the past, but you can take steps to shape
your future. The faster you take a positive step forward, the quicker you can
leave the draining, controlling thoughts behind.
After Carl Lewis won the
gold medal for the long jump in the 1996 Olympic games, he was asked to what he
attributed his longevity, having competed for almost 20 years. He said, “Remembering
that you have both wins and losses along the way. I don’t take either one too
seriously.”
3. Lose the need for the approval of others.
Often our fear of failure or our inability to get over
failure is rooted in our fear of being judged by others or losing the respect
of others. We are way to easily influenced by what people say. REMEMBER, this
is your life, not theirs. What one person considers to be true about you is not
necessarily the truth unless you assimilate it and make it truth. Don’t give too
much power to others’ opinions.
After his first audition, Sidney Poitier was asked to
stop wasting people’s time. F.W. Woolworth’s boss said he didn’t have enough
sense to wait on customers. Oprah
Winfrey was fired from her first TV job because someone thought she was “unfit
for TV.” Stephen King’s first book, Carrie, was rejected by 30
publishers. Walt Disney was fired from his newspaper job because he
“lacked imagination and good ideas.” Winston Churchill failed sixth grade
and was considered “a dolt” by his teacher. Jerry Seinfeld was booed off the
stage the first time he tried comedy.
I can guarantee that you will not find a success story
that is not a story of overcoming failure. The difference between those you
consider successful and the average person is that they did not give up.
So,
you’ve experienced failure it is ok. GET UP, dust yourself off and keep it
moving.
Michael Jordan said it
best: "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost
almost 300 games. On 26 occasions, I have been entrusted to take the game
winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my
life. And that is why I succeed."
No comments:
Post a Comment