The Psychology of Failure

So much has been written on the topic of failure, I thought it time I added my two cents. I've done a fair bit of contemplation on the subject of late; not because my life is full of it, but because it’s interesting from the perspective of human nature... and, well ok, perhaps I've had a few, too.

Failure is not as popular as it should be, is it? Failure, although not the desired outcome, should be celebrated at least a little, instead of stuffed into the bottom of the bin under all the soggy teabags and banana peels.

Failure is just part of the process of succeeding, right? Well, isn't it? When you think about it, we can't often have success without first having failure, at least in the most important accomplishments we undertake.

From that perspective, isn't failure just an expected step up the ladder to success? The more failures we have, the more rungs on the ladder, and the higher we'll eventually climb to our loftiest goals. So failures are truly GOOD things. We WANT failures, because they're proof we're doing something, that we've taken action and that we have goals.

"There are no failures-- just experiences and your reactions to them."
- Tom Krause

Now, I like that one a lot. Maybe we could just eliminate the word "failure" from all the dictionaries in the world. Then people couldn't consider themselves failures, marriages couldn't be failures, or fancy cakes, or even new business ventures. They'd simply be an important discovery along the way to success, about what success ISN'T! That’s brilliant! It’s all in the way we look at it; our perception.

Imagine how differently we’d feel if we weren’t so bummed out about failing a test, or failing to pay a bill, or to call our mother. If we can’t fail, wouldn’t we be a lot more inclined to do more, to risk more, to accomplish more than if we’re paralyzed with fear about failing? I think so!
And how about this celebrated view?

“Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”
– Sir Winston Churchill

Now that could be a little depressing if we take the word failure too seriously, couldn’t it? The thought of a series of failures when we’re just starting out would be too much for a lot of people. They’d stop before they’d even started!

But there’s a lesson in that, too. We must be prepared not to be successful right away, and to be strong in our pursuit of our important goals, but it doesn’t mean we have to be relegated to forever make the exact same mistakes— just that we can learn from each one, intelligently modify our efforts, and move on again until we find success.

In fact, it’s not about instant success at all, is it? It’s the journey! Life is about the journey. If everything were easy, it wouldn’t be a challenge, and we’d be bored. We’re here to grow. There’s no growth in brushing your teeth every morning, is there? When was the last time you left the bathroom thinking, “Wow, I did an amazing job of brushing my teeth today. I’m sure it was ten times better than yesterday!”? Maybe I’m wrong, but I just don’t see that.

Failure and success then, come when we step outside our comfort zone and risk. The risk, that gentle flutter in the tummy, that shred if anxiety that signals fear due to the unknown, is what keeps us going. It’s why we wake up each morning, or it should be. Without it, we’ll always stay the same, and I just can’t risk that! I’d rather fail, and fail and fail, than never risk.

“I’m not afraid of failing. I’m afraid of living a boring life.”
- Ray Edwards

Here! Here! I wish us all much failure in 2008!

Seed Newsvine

Bookmark this article in your preferred program

Comments

Add Comment

Popular Articles in this cathegory

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.