“Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success…” ~John Keats
Too often in life, we live in fear of failure. Something in life teaches us to be worried about how we look or are perceived by others. Something tells us that we aren’t worth much if we try and fail.
When I talk to people about why they stay in a job they don’t like, it may be because they are afraid of being able to fit in or make a go of it elsewhere. Or, they may be afraid of what others will think if they leave a ‘good’ job for one that isn’t guaranteed or set. Often, they are simply unsure of whether it will work out, so they stick with something they know (and don’t like), as they would prefer to have something work than to have something that doesn’t.
Granted, some things merit caution, such as if you are building a rocket to the moon. The rocket should be well tested and tried before putting a person on board. Managing risk is different than never trying though.
Life is full of opportunity, but many of those opportunities require learning something new. To learn something new, we will try and fail, try and miss, and try and lose. Those steps are inevitable.
However, we are human beings with incredible potential and capacity. We can learn more than one thing, and we can learn it well. If we can look at the big picture of what we are trying to accomplish, the misses along the way are less imposing.
In other words, one lost game, one failed sales pitch, one request for a date turned down – these things do not limit our ability to still secure something involved with the bigger picture of what we are working to accomplish. The world is full of opportunity and people. Even if you failed with one or more potential clients, there are quite literally billions of other people with which to interact and try again with.
I have often wondered if one of the traits that defines a successful person is their willingness to try and fail. The road to success is paved with failure, or practice, depending on how you see it.
David did not believe that he would only need one stone to kill Goliath. Rather, he took a number of stones with him, likely because he knew it was possible to miss.
Even though David had likely missed his mark many times as he practiced with his sling, his failures had resulted in successes as well. He knew that given five or so stones, he could hit his mark.
David’s road to his great success in slaying the giant was likely marked with many attempts, efforts, and misses along the way as he practiced with his sling.
It is the same for us. We have to work, we have to try, we have to miss, we have to fail, in order for us to succeed.
We should not fear trying and failing. It is part of the road to success. Success requires a journey. Trying and failing are the steps to our destination there.
Next time you find your mind convincing yourself not to move forward, step up and try anyway. The fear of failure holds us down. Trying and failing and trying again puts us on the path to success.
At Believe, we are working to build a community of people who are working to change the world, for good. We try, fail, and try again, cheering each other’s attempts, even if not successful in the moment. We would love to have you join us
, even if you haven’t succeeded in your goals yet. You still have much potential to change the world, for good.
