When I was undergoing treatment for cancer, the walls of the radiation rooms were covered with slogans intended to encourage patients, and one of them said: ‘Don’t waste your cancer.’ What is meant by this is that this is a time for reflection, introspection, and peace making. Although this is a subject for a different discussion, I have applied the same principle to failure.
Most of us are brought up and taught to avoid failure at almost any cost. And yet, failing at something is the best way to learn and to improve. Failure is part of the price we pay for success. So, don’t waste your failure. Make it work for you.
This article is not aimed at trying to work out why we are taught to avoid failure, except to say that from a parent’s point of view, there are protective instincts at play.

John Maxwell notes that the difference between average people and high achievers is their perception of failure.
Kyle Rote Jr says that the only way to be a loser is to not look beyond the failure.
J. Wallace Hamilton makes the amusing but true observation that people train for success when they should be training for failure, because failure is far more common than success.
It is a fact of life that success cannot be achieved without failure.

During my training to become a leadership and growth coach and trainer, I was reminded to reposition my past failures from the liability column to the asset column on my life’s balance sheet. The reason for this switch is simple. A failure is a liability when there is no lesson learned, or when another attempt is made using the same techniques without changing strategy, and thus achieving the same result, or when it discourages further attempts at reaching the original goal. I reflected on the following statements:
There are no mistakes, only lessons.
Sometimes we win, sometimes we learn.
We only fail when we stop trying.

A cursory glance at the career of most serial entrepreneurs, including mine, will reveal a series of trials and failures. Some things work and some don’t. Some are bad ideas, some products or services have no real marketable uses, while many great ideas, concepts and products fail to become great sellers for many and varied reasons.
I have been granted the great privilege of revisiting some of my poor decisions and failures and to learn from them without having to re-live them. I am very grateful. This exercise has helped me find a purpose for myself, as well as a productive use of those failures as a powerful resource for teaching and training.

George Bernard Shaw said:
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable,
But more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”
Failure is not avoidable, is not objective, is not the enemy, is not an event, is not a stigma, is not irreversible, and is not final. Here is what Winston Churchill says about it:
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal.
It is the courage to continue that counts.”

The way we view failure is everything. A healthy perspective is to see failure as the price we have to pay for success. Failure at something should not stop us from believing in ourselves or make us consider ourselves failures. It should not paralyse us with fear and doubt, nor should we abandon faith and hope. One of the principal intentions of this article, this website, and all the programs on offer is to provide motivation and tools to keep you moving forward, by keeping the big goal in focus, no matter where you are in the corporate ladder or at what stage of life you are. It is never too late to learn or to find value in the current situation. The intention is to help you to identify and conquer the fear of failure and regain momentum.

We obviously do not aim for failure, but when it comes, as it surely will, when viewed positively, it creates an opportunity to reflect, introspect, and adjust for the next step. This is why our perception of failure is so important; it can either empower or paralyze us. Failure is a tool for growth. The quickest way to recover from failure is to accept that you failed, and not try to cover it up, or pretend it did not happen. This is called taking responsibility.

Do not allow the pain of failure to become the fear of failure.
Do not allow past failures to determine the future. Regret keeps us hostage, is a burden for the present and a hindrance to the future.

Life is often referred to as a race that we must finish strong. I have found that it is more of an endurance event than a sprint, more like a steeplechase event than a flat dash. To navigate the race of life with any success, we must embrace adversity and accept failure as part of life. Adversity creates resilience, develops maturity, pushes our performance, prompts innovation, and provides greater opportunities. Don’t allow adversity to make you a sceptic. Allow it to purify you instead.
Poet Lord Byron rightly stated that adversity is the first path to truth. This is why our perception of failure is so important in the game of life.

I am motivated by the following statements:
Everything happening to you is for you, not against you.
People respect us for our successes but love us for our failures.
Rather fear futility than failure.
A failure is one less hurdle to success.

When I look back on my life, its challenges and successes, I ask myself “Would you change anything?” Almost incredibly, my answer is always “NO.” Of course I could have learned quicker, of course I wish I had not hurt the people I hurt during the journey. But I am thankful that the journey is not over and that I have opportunity to share what I have learned from the mistakes and failures of my past.

For more insights about Failure, Leadership, Communication and Personal Growth and the way they can add value to you and your team, book one of our programs.

I look forward to adding value to you.