3 Effective Lessons from my Failures
As much as I love writing about the positives, it would be naive to deny that we don’t fail.
Failures are bound to happen. However, learning from them can reduce the frequency of failures or at least, their repetition.
I’ve learned a lot from my failures, but here are 3 Effective Lessons that have stuck with me over time.
Failures don’t define you, your response to them does:
Failures can be daunting. They’re not fun to experience. However, they don’t define you or your abilities. Your failure could be due to:
Unfortunate circumstances
Lack of planning
That takes us to the next lesson.
Ask the question ‘Why did I fail’ - You’ll learn more than you ever did:
The bright side of failures is that you can revisit them to understand what went wrong.
If you failed due to poor planning, spending more time on planning helps. Once you spend time to reflect on what went wrong, applying those will make your next attempt much better.
It also helps to ask people for help. There is nothing wrong in asking for help. People are kind.
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” ― Benjamin Franklin
Do NOT hesitate to try things just because you’ve failed before:
You will excel at some things, fail at others. We’re not perfect but we’re all good at something. We’re all in different chapters of our lives.
Failure tends to push us back into our comfort zone but staying there never really helped anyone. There’s a difference between experiencing fear and being scared.
‘Being Scared’ is a temporary rush of a feeling. It informs us, and makes us feel alert.
Fear is a state of being. It drags us down and is a liability.
It’s okay to be scared. It’s when fear takes over that we hesitate.
“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.”
― F. Scott FitzgeraldTask:
Create a cookie jar - write down a list of accomplishments you’ve had in life.
They are a reminder of what you can achieve. If you ever feel incapable, that’s your reminder that you are.