Failure is inevitable, but it does not end there
I admit this is a bold statement.
However, it is true. It is the other side of the coin.
Let us face the fact that no matter who you are and what business you run, the relationships you get involved in and the career you choose, you are bound to experience failure. It is part of the tapestry of living life. Life is a package of good, bad and the ugly.
Your business or relationship might have failed but it is crucial to know that you as a person has not failed.
The life stories of successful leaders, celebrities, top athletes and business people are laced with a series of failures.
I have yet to meet someone who managed to sail through their life without facing any failure.
If there are any then I would love to meet them and learn their secrets – that is if they have one.
Positive minded people use words such as setback, challenge, or struggle
I recall the words of a great leader:
“After climbing a great hill, one only finds there are many more hills to climb”
Nelson Mandela
So, what do you do when you experience failure?
I have experienced failure in my business, relationships, health and, finances.
• Did it stop me from moving forward? No!
• Did I feel my world had collapsed? Yes!
I had to accept that I failed. Not because I wanted to fail, but failures and successes amongst other things are the tapestries of life.
“Once you accept that you have failed, you can choose to get up, dust yourself and, move forward”. David Andrew
The way I moved forward is by asking myself these three questions:
- What did I do that caused this failure?
- Was it entirely my fault or did others play a part in it?
- What can I learn from my failure?
How do you deal with failures?
Failure is internal, and it is a feeling rather than actual loss of things. So, it is crucial to deal with those feelings.
My fourteen top tips
- Carefully reflecting on the mistakes and write them down so it is visible for you to refer.
- Make necessary adjustments to your life accordingly and write down on a piece of paper so you can see the difference.
- Bounce your ideas with trusted friends and consult with experts.
- Be prepared to take constructive criticism and do not ignore even if your immediate feelings might want to ignore it.
- Listen to your gut feelings, but not until you have paused and reflected on the response you make.
- Do your research.
- Invest in training yourself.
- Hire mentors and coaches who could work with you and help you get over the hurdle.
- Change habits that are not helping. Replace with new ones.
- Try, test and practice for as long as it takes until it becomes deeply ingrained in your psyche and becomes your lifestyle.
- Change your attitude by becoming less judgemental and reactive to issues and situations.
- Focus on developing a positive mindset by building strong foundations based on ethical principles and adhering to your values.
- Practice on being consistent with your approach to whatever tasks or projects you take on.
- Stop making knee jerk decisions and stop being impulsive.
What to do now
I appreciate all of this takes time, but patiently work towards getting things right one thing at a time. You will notice the process will snowball and one positive change of habit will impact and change your other habits.
You will then enjoy more success and will continue to learn from your failures.
I will be happy to work with you on this journey and you will experience the difference straight away.
Get in touch using my contact page here.
7 responses
Hi Nicola, that’s awesome 👍 Hope you do really well to overcome any failures you experience.
Thank you, Nicola, for your comment.
Writing things down is a great way to differentiate what needs to be done, what is done, and what else can be done to make things work better.
I’m definitely going to write things down. Seeing situations as challenge and learning curve is the way to address life’s bumps in the road!
The 14 tips are the ones that I use myself as they continue to help me move forward in life. Hope it does for you too when you start implementing them.
These are very great tips. Whoever read this blog and do want to overcome failure needs to read, reflect and apply these tips to your life style then these tips will become really helpful to you.
Thank you Darron.
Feel free to comment on other blogs if you feel inspired.
Great words of advice