What is failure?

Most of us define failure as not accomplishing a task within a certain time frame thus leading to failure. In fact most people fear to try new things as they are afraid to fail. They find it depressing and embarrassing to fail. Fear of how people may react towards them. Whether you will be considered reliable or not. In fact most people get too stressed just by thinking about it. In most cases people, who fail, will blame everyone and everything else but themselves, most often than not, this output will be their only way of making themselves feel good again as they would have diverted the blame away from themselves. This way their ego can’t get hurt. Let me just share with you how I see failure and how I go about handling it.

When people tell you “don’t live off your past glories”, I tell them to buzz off. You are what you are today because of what you have achieved in your past. Be proud of all your past achievements and recognize your own efforts. You need to live off your past glories because they form part of you.

It is important to acknowledge this because it acts as your safety net and catches you whenever you fall while climbing to greater heights. All of us need this safety net. Imagine climbing without a safety net. So feel free to live off your past glories but don’t hover over it. Some people misuse it. They brag about their past achievements and remain stagnant but fail to use it to propel further. You must not do that. This will lead to complacency and cockiness, a vicious cycle, and again leading back to failure.

I see failures as a stepping stone for me to constantly try and innovate the way I do things. If a method I use doesn’t work I don’t just give up. I try other ways. Nothing is impossible. If it is too complicated, normally I let the matter rest. Somehow or rather I’ll get the answer to the problem, probably at a later point in time, only when I take a step out of the situation. A clear head helps a lot.

There are always many ways to solve a problem. I only choose the ethical way. Sometimes solving things the unethical way may give you fast success but will later come back to haunt you and eventually leading you to trouble.

Actually you didn’t really solve the problem. In fact you just worsened it. So don’t be stupid and cheat for success. Practice professional ethics and be law abiding. This is not a race. You life’s a journey so enjoy every step as you go. If you can’t face the law don’t even bother committing a crime.

Failures are not to be seen as setbacks. When you embark on something new, you are bound to make mistakes, especially when you progress because you will encounter new scenarios and new situations. There will be mistakes and there will be consequences but everything is a lesson learnt.

What sets you apart from failures is determination and a never die attitude. We are all here for a reason. Just don’t let each day pass without an attempt to try. Failures are part of the success package. In fact the winner with the most failures is the one who celebrates the biggest. Imagine egg whites.  They are in the liquid form in its original state.

The more beating it gets the fluffier it becomes. It is only with prolonged beating they evolve from the runny state to a whipped state. In relation to life, the more “beatings” you get, the harder you will become. You will soon mature to become wiser over time. This will not only make you better but stronger as well in handling and overcoming challenges.

We live in a perfect universe. Setbacks may seem bad and we may ask ourselves why is this happening. Everything that has happened, is happening right now and may happen in the future is all to our best interest. We may not realise it now. Just take it positively and just let it happen.

All bad events will pass. Don’t brood over it. Get up and look at what is the next course of action to take. You are not going to end your life just because you failed. If you have guts to take your own life then you should have the courage to live. You have only failed if you have given up trying. Failure is only for those who succumb to it. Till then keep trying.

If Albert Einstein gave up at the very first instance of failure then today we will still not have electricity and you wouldn’t be reading this right now. Giving up is only for the deceased. Give yourself a new lease to live. Nobody’s perfect after all.

Be it in your business, relationship, investment or career we are all bound to fail at some point in time. If not where is the challenge in living? Never give up. Work towards improving what you do and learn from your past mistakes. The only way to attain success is to climb the steps of failure. I make sure every step I take lands with a loud thud!  I am always bigger than my problem.

Try me!