“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.”
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Many people don’t follow their passion, don’t fulfill their dreams because they are afraid of failure. Failure is part of life it teaches you about survival and it reinvents yourself. Failure and success go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other! Take Thomas Edison as an example, he tried over 9,000 designs before he created the working light bulb. When he was asked by a reporter how he felt after having failed 9,000 times. Edison replied, “I did not fail, I just learned 9,000 ways not to make the light bulb.” What have you failed at? What did it teach you? Let’s talk about failure and how to approach it with open arms.
Failure redirects our efforts in a different direction. Think about the times you have failed in your life. A series of failures can lead us to open our minds into new knowledge or information if you are willing to learn the lesson! Think of failure as the lesson and you as the student. If you learn the lesson you don’t have to repeat the lesson. With a lesson learned you will be willing to try new things to get to your destination. Here are some suggestions on how to embrace failure.
Don’t Fear Failure Learn From It
As I already mentioned, many people don’t pursue their passions because of fear of failure. I was guilty of that for many years. I worried about all the things that could go wrong and some of them did! I talked myself out of my dreams many times. I wished someone would have told me that I would fail in my attempts to pursuing my dreams, but I would also LEARN from my mistakes. If I had truly confronted my fears I would have had so many lessons learned by now! I laugh now, but a few years ago the idea of living only on my husband’s income until my business got up and running, truly scared me. I made mistakes in managing my finances in the beginning, but quickly learned how to budget after our electricity got cut because I had neglected to budget! Yup, the lesson was taught and I decided that I was going to learn the lesson quickly so that I did not have to repeat it! Yes, you will fail but you will also learn and that my friend is priceless!
There is Always a Second Chance
You can’t fail until you stop trying. One thing I really want you to remember about failure is that is not final there is always a second chance, but only if you decide to make it so! When I started pursuing my new career in Personal Development, I would have people tell me, “Well if it does not work out, you can always come back to teaching.” This really made me upset because I felt they were projecting who they were on me. They did know who I really was! If they did they would know that I was not going to give up! I had to remind some of those nonbelievers that, “I did not come this far, to only come this far!” I told them that,” I knew I would continue to fail, but that I would also continue to grow and when we are growing we are growing up never down!” It took a while for some people to stop projecting their fears on me, but eventually they did. It’s going to be up to you to decide if you want to take that second chance or not. I say never back down on your dreams, never give in. You have what it takes to give it 9000 chances just like Edison.
What Failures Teaches us
One of the gifts of failure is that it highlights our values. It has helped me identified what is important in my life now. I have discovered that even as I fail and stumble with my business I will not give up on it. It’s not easy to be an entrepreneur but I have discovered my mission and that makes it worth it. What I value the most now is empowering individuals just like me to embrace failure so that they can pursue their passion. Failure has taught me that I am strong and that I can take anything that comes my way. Failure will teach you what you are made of when you get up and not give in. Have the courage to fight for your dreams, but most importantly have the courage to embrace failure because it will build your character!
I hope I have convinced you that to embrace failure is to be on your path to success! If you are not failing you are not living and if you are not living why are you here? Until next time, Believe that your passion is your reason for being here, Change those fear thoughts toBecome your greatest self!
NancyJ