Why We Must Fail!

How can failure be a key ingredient to success? Aren't they opposites? Perhaps! But, without dark there would be no light. Without no there would be no yes. And without failure there would be no success. Therefore, you need failure to succeed.

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed."-Michael Jordan

Both success and failure can be difficult to define. Like success, the definition of failure is personal...it's based on your mindset, experiences, and perception. But for simplicity, lets define failure as not achieving desired results.

It's important to realize that failure is an event, not a person. The only way a person can fail is by giving up. Instead of giving up and seeing yourself as a failure, look at the situation and analyze what is not working. Ask why? With careful observation you will discover that there is a lesson in every failure.

"Every adversity, every failure, and every unpleasant experience carries with it the seed of an equivalent benefit which may prove to be a blessing in disguise."-Napoleon Hill

"We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery."-Samuel Smiles

Since how you see failure is largely a part of your mindset, you must make a conscious effort to create a "success mindset" instead of a "failure mindset". Learn to think like Thomas Edison. When he was asked how he dealt with so much failure in inventing the light bulb, he responded that he never failed once...he simply discovered 10,000 ways that won't work. That is a "success mindset"; it is the thinking that will free you from fear of failure.

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."-Robert F. Kennedy

The real lesson in turning failure into success is first seeing failure as opportunity. Refuse to recognize failure as something negative, it is just something that happened. If you didn't achieve the results you expected or desired, then learn what didn't work and continue down to path to discover what does work.

Embrace failure. View it with wonder and curiosity. Respond to it with a "success mindset" and search for the seed of opportunity hidden within. Recognize it as an event (a learning opportunity) and don't associate it with you personally; refuse to get emotionally involved. And finally, keep moving forward! Never, never, never give up!!

Embrace your opportunities,

Scott Thomas