You always pass failure on the way to success.
Mickey Rooney
Failure is inevitable if we are to succeed in life. Unfortunately, many people do not know how to overcome failure, and they are stopped by it when they encounter one. The ability to overcome failure is one big difference between successful and mediocre people. After all, we should pass failure on the way to success, so it is the ability to pass it that makes the difference between those who eventually reach success and those who don’t.
So, knowing that overcoming failure is essential, what should we do? Here are some tips to help you overcome failure:
1. Rise up and don’t regret; you have spent your time wisely
A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.
George Bernard Shaw
When we fail, we might be tempted to think that we have wasted our time and thus regret it. But that’s should not be the case. The fact that you have done something is much better than doing nothing. Many people who despise persons who fail never do anything themselves. Rise up and move on. The regret lies not in doing, but in not doing.
2. Understand that failure is there to bring you wisdom
Good people are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure.
William Saroyan
Failure is there not without a reason. It’s there to give you the wisdom you need to succeed. Each failure you encounter increases your wisdom and brings you one step closer to success. If you have this mindset, you will see failure differently. You will see each failure as an opportunity to learn.
3. Learn as much as possible from the failure
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
Albert Einstein
While failure brings you wisdom, how much wisdom you will get depends entirely on your ability to harvest it. So don’t waste the opportunity to learn; harvest wisdom as much as possible from the failure. If you fail to do this, you may waste a lot of time by repeating the same mistakes in the future.
4. Don’t give up; maybe you are only one step away from success
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Thomas A. Edison
The thought of giving up is tempting, especially when we have failed over and over again. But who knows that maybe you are only one step away from success? Will you waste the long journey you have passed when you are already so close to your destination?
So hold on tight and don’t give up. Thomas Edison failed thousands of times to perfect the light bulb. He knew what it means not to give up.
5. Maintain your enthusiasm
Not only you should keep on trying, you should also do it with the same level of enthusiasm as when you first began. Otherwise your subsequent effort will have less and less power.
So how do you maintain enthusiasm? One good way is by realizing that you are now one step closer to success thanks to the lessons you learn. There’s no reason not to be enthusiastic when you are getting closer to success. Another way is to keep your mind on the destination, which brings us to the next point.
6. Keep dreaming big dreams
Always have your destination in mind; keep dreaming your big dreams. Spend time to visualize them and let the dreams energize you. Let them make you passionate and enthusiastic. Once you cease dreaming, soon you will also lose your energy and be back to mediocrity. To overcome all the obstacles you encounter you always need a greater why, and that why is provided by your dreams.
7. Keep your confidence in yourself
Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.
Belva Davis
Keep your confidence in yourself despite the failure. Of course, you need to put a lot of effort and learn as much as possible from the failure, but you have the ability to make your dream come true. Many people who achieve great undertakings have no special trait. They are just ordinary people with extraordinary attitude. Let’s be one of them.
Update:
This post is my submission to the group writing project at Litemind.
Photo by Behrooz Nobakht
Comment by Doug Rosbury
17 9. November 2007, 11:30 am o'clock |
When you depend on success because it brings you income you need, failure will be disappointing. But if income isn’t at stake then it shouldn’t be so bad. But watch out for ego trips
your sense of self importance will often be tied into both success and failure and make either one all too important.
What is it that makes one a tragedy and the other, a self
aggrandizing celebration of self importance? Egotism.
Humility will even things out. Failure contains all the
information you need in order to succeed. Don’t recognize
the power of failure to put you down. “If at first, you don’t succeed, try try again”— Doug Rosbury
Comment by Donald Latumahina
16 9. November 2007, 10:08 am o'clock |
dorksgetlaid2,
Thanks for the quote!
Doug,
These are nice questions which make us think. I agree with Quint, it’s a matter of perception and this post deals with the negative feeling that may occur.
Lawrence,
I agree with the way you describe it. That’s exactly the mindset we should have in dealing with failure.
Either we take the risk to achieve something great or forever live in mediocrity.
I prefer the former and I’m sure you too :)
Quint,
I love the way you explain it :)
Andrew,
We can see the term ‘failure’ in different ways. The term ‘failure’ in this post also includes the first unsuccessful attempts.
I agree with you that the first ‘failure’ is normal. The important thing is to learn from it so that it won’t happen again.
Comment by GreatManagement
15 9. November 2007, 7:16 am o'clock |
Great insightful post.
Only thing I would add is when you ‘fail’ the first time don’t see it as failure. If you ‘fail’ at the same thing time and time again, that may be classed as failure because you are not learning and changing your approach.
Andrew
Comment by Quint
14 8. November 2007, 10:21 am o'clock |
@Doug
I would agree that failure is mostly perception. It takes time and reflection to look back at a “failed” situation and see what you might have gained.
I think these tips are meant to help us deal with the powerful emotions created when we put our whole heart into the pursuit of a goal, and we don’t reach it. We experience disappointment, reduced self esteem, loss of hope, and maybe even a desire to quit. It would probably be considered abnormal to not experience these kinds of feelings. Using the tools Donald talks about here can help us make it through the darkness and find those lessons on the other side.
The defense may continue to rest, because there is no prosecution ;)
Comment by Lawrence Cheok | A Long Long Road
13 8. November 2007, 4:31 am o'clock |
Hi Donald, once again, another great post on handling failures.
I really like tips 1, 2, and 3; look at it this way, we only live once. Either we go out there, try, fail and learn and MAYBE we will succeed one day OR we continue to live our life in mediocrity CONFIRMED!
So which way is it?
Keep in touch, Donald. :)
Comment by Doug Rosbury
12 8. November 2007, 1:36 am o'clock |
“7 powerful tips to overcome failure” (???)
What do you call failure? isn’t failure what you call failure?
Maybe what you call failure is actually success of a kind you haven’t considered. If failure teaches you a lesson in perception, isn’t it success? If it teaches you tolerance for something you don’t like, isn’t it success? If so called failure teaches you to be whole and real, isn’t what you call failure, in reality, success? The defense rests.—Doug Rosbury
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# 19. November 2007, 11:51 am o'clock |
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#2 9. November 2007, 5:18 pm o'clock |
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#3 8. November 2007, 4:40 am o'clock |
[...] 7 Powerful Tips to Overcome Failure - Donald Latumahina [...]