How to Fail Well: The Key to Success
Failures happen. They are a part of life. What you do after a failed attempt at something worthwhile is critical. Learn how to fail well and you will unlock unlimited amounts of opportunities.
“Everyone fails. Anyone you see succeeding is only succeeding at the things you’re paying attention to — I guarantee they are also failing at lots of other things. The people I respect most are those who fail well. I respect them even more than those who succeed.” (Ray Dalio, Principles)
Social media can be depressing. Scrolling through your social media feed is dangerous if you’re in the wrong mindset. Sure it’s great to keep tabs on friends you’ve lost contact with over the years. But it becomes dangerous when you start comparing yourself to the people who you see on your feed. You are comparing their best days (no one posts their worst days) with your life on your worst days.
When you see a successful person, it’s natural to think that they got lucky. What we fail to see is the enormous amounts of failures it took for that person to become successful. Luck had nothing to do with it. They failed their way to the top.
“I have not failed. I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.” (Thomas Edison)
For some people, failure is a dirty word. They avoid it at all costs because they are afraid of what others will think of them. After all, we live in a society that praises success. But we only see less than half of the equation.
Here are some positive ways to think about failure:
- failure is a part of life. Don’t try to avoid it. Do your best, but accept failure if it happens.
- failure leads to growth. Every failure is a learning opportunity. Reflect on your attempt and move on.
- failure makes you stronger. Failure teaches you what not to do. In teaching you this, you become a stronger person. You become mentally resilient and can deal with setbacks better. This is because you’ve had practice. Learn from that practice.
- failure teaches you something new. Failure teaches something new about your pursuit of your goals. It also teaches you about yourself.
The key to success isn’t never failing. The key to success is failing well. When you learn how to fail well, you will always end up a better person.
