I came across this really nice video recently, which you will find below. Its message is very clear: “If you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived”. It’s a good reminder because as we live our day-to-day life, we tend to forget this very important message. We end up thinking that everyone that succeeds has had nothing but luck all their life and that they had it easy. Who can blame us too, I mean by the time we hear about someone making it, the focus is on the success, not on the long hard struggle to get there.
The truth is, everyone has failed. Everyone has failed miserably. As you have seen in the video, these pioneers and innovators all have experienced immense disappointments throughout their existence. Another one that I can think about is J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books. I recall reading about her recently, where she said at her lowest point she was suicidal, not knowing how she was going to provide for her kids.
Failing is a part of the game that is life. Imagine if J.K Rowling hadn’t pulled through and persisted with her vision. When looking at her success today, we’re talking about 400 million books sold, countless licensing deals, and being I believe the second richest woman in the UK after the Queen, it’s hard to imagine someone on the brink of suicide, but this is the reality of it. We all experience it. We’ve all failed, and guess what, we will continue to fail, because we absolutely need it to succeed.
Failing is trying. Without trying we never have a shot at succeeding. The quicker you can deal with failure, the quicker you are ready for success. Each failure is a building block to success. Some people cannot deal with failure, so they never try anything. The result: nothing. Nothing can happen without action. Life is all about action, and taking risks.
When I worked in sales many years ago, I witnessed this countless number of times. The ones that succeeded were the ones that weren’t afraid of rejection. Sales is all about rejection, and for some people, the risk of being rejected was so paralyzing that they would not approach a potential client. The result: no sales & no success.
I remember a saying by Tom Hopkins, a renowned sales coach, that made it very clear that rejections or failures, if you will, are the rungs to the ladder of success. For example, let’s say each sale you get is worth $100, and you complete a sale 1 time out of 10 tries. So it means that each failure is worth $10! It’s a nice clever way to look at failures.
There is value in failures, as you can see. And most importantly, failures are lessons. What you can draw out of each failure is experience and knowledge that will help you succeed better. That is why you should never ever be afraid of failing, because there is absolutely nothing to fear. In the game of life, nobody plays a perfect game. If you think that some people lead perfect flawless lives, it’s your perception, but certainly not reality.
Accept that failure is a part of life, and the better you will be for it. Accept that you have failed. For some people, their past failures haunt them, and they never get over it. Accept it. Know that this is not some isolated incident, everyone has faced this. You are no different. At least you tried…at least you LIVED! Also, accept that you will fail in the future. Some things will work, and some won’t. Preparing yourself mentally for this is smart. It’s realistic and logical.
Now, accepting is not expecting! You should never expect to fail. The ones that expect to fail realize their wishes very easily. You can be logical and accept that the possibility of failure does exist, but you can be confident in your chances to avoid such failure. This is crucial, as you do not want to become a habitual failure. Just knowing that even if you do fail, you will get over it, and that it won’t destroy you is so empowering that simply having that frame of mind increases your chances of success even more.
Without failure, how sweet would success be? How can success be appreciated, without knowing the opposite feeling? I’m thinking of the closest example of this…over-privileged kids that had everything handed to them. How many times have we heard of such kids turning out to be complete disasters? Without having experienced the opposite feeling, they had no idea of the value of what they were given. So they destroyed it. For someone like J.K Rowling, who was suicidal at some point, how sweet do you think her success has to feel to her?
Anything that you are thinking of doing, any projects or endeavors that you have in mind, just give it a try. Live your life, and trying such things is living. The biggest hurdle that keeps people from succeeding is the fear of failure. It causes a sudden halt in progress, and no movement means no potential for success. Don’t be such a person. Don’t be afraid of failing, welcome it. Be ready for it. But expect to succeed, because in the end, you will.
Why deny yourself the opportunity to accomplish everything that you ever wanted out of life? This is the key that unlocks the door to your dreams. Your success is directly proportional to the number of times you fail, which is directly proportional to the number of times you try. You can’t have one without the other. Be at peace with it, rise up, and give it your all. That is the only way to truly experience life at its fullest 😉
