6 Reasons to Embrace Failure on Your Way to Success

The more I read about the failure and success of the most successful people in the world, the more I realize that the only difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is that successful people never give up.

In fact, there are a few more things that I learned about failure that I would like to share with you!

If you understand these few things about failure, it will be much easier for you to achieve success and deal with difficult situations in life.

1. Failure is a Part of Success

I always thought that the opposite of success is failure, but I was wrong.

After some thinking, analyzing and experimenting, I realized that failure is an inevitable part of success. Even if you try your best, something can always go wrong.

It takes courage to try again after you’ve failed, but if you give up after first obstacles, it’s very unlikely that you will achieve something great in your life.

It’s hard to keep the same level of enthusiasm once you failed, but if you really want to achieve something, it’s even harder to live with the fact that you could do it but you didn’t want to try again.

There are many famous people and millionaires who went bankrupt but turned the failure around into success (like Henry Ford, Abraham Lincoln, Kim Basinger, and Mike Tyson).

The sooner you realize that failure is a part of success, the more things you will be able to achieve because you won’t be afraid to fail.

Winston Churchill had defined success as the “ability to go from one failure to another without losing enthusiasm.”

2. F.A.I.L.= First Attempt in Learning

If you’ve failed in something, that only means that you didn’t do it right the first time. What did you learn? Is there something you can do differently next time?

Sometimes our “failures” are the most valuable lessons in life – we grow and become stronger, we improve our problem-solving skills and we come up with even better solutions.

Engineers, scientists and chemists would never invent amazing technologies and find cures for many diseases if they gave up after their first attempt. Thomas A. Edison made 1000 unsuccessful attempts before inventing the light bulb, but he never considered those attempts failures. He “just found 1000 ways that won’t work.”

3. Failure Strengthens Your Character

I’ve never met a person who has succeeded in everything he tried, who never had obstacles and who never failed in something.

However, I have met those who had given up after the first obstacle and I’ve also met those who have tried different methods until they figured out something that works.

The ability to deal with obstacles in life is a test of our character and discipline!

It’s our choice to be a quitter or a winner.

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. – Robert F. Kennedy

4. Fear of Failure Can Make You a Better Thinker

There are certain people who would rather not try because they are afraid that they will fail.

Fear of failure can make you a better thinker. It forces you to analyze your situation better.

When I decided to quit my job and start my own business, I knew that there was a chance that I wouldn’t succeed. The question that I asked myself was, “What is the worst that can happen?“. If I fail, can I find a new job? Do I have enough money to live until I find a new job?

Since I had some savings and since I had some work experience, I knew that it wouldn’t be so difficult for me to find a new job. I felt a certain sense of security that even if the worst-case scenario were to happen, I still had a chance to succeed in my life.

Take risks, but make sure they’re smart and calculated risks. Make sure that even if the worst scenario happens, you have a backup plan ready.

Use fear of failure as a trigger to analyze and not to paralyze yourself!

5. Failure is Better Than a Missed Opportunity

We often think about things that can go wrong, but what if things go right? What can you win? What can you lose if you don’t try?

If what you can win is much greater than what you can lose than it’s worth trying.

Some people are even afraid to fall in love or to trust someone because they don’t want to risk being rejected or hurt. If you don’t risk this possibility, can you ever have a good relationship?

6. Success Stories Are Good, But Failure Stories Are Better.

Sometimes your worst experiences can be your best stories later in life. After all, your mistakes just prove that you are a human being.

No matter what happens, you need to be brave enough to overcome failure. Once you have succeeded, you can teach others how you did it and how to avoid the mistakes that you have made.

People will respect you more once they know that you had the courage to deal with problems and obstacles.

Here is the formula for success by Thomas J. Watson:

Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you’ll find success.

Written by Eva Lu

Eva Lu is an ex engineer who decided to give up her successful career and dedicate her life to inspire and motivate others to find the best in themselves. She founded the “Mind of a Winner” website because she strongly believes that success is a skill developed by persistent people and her passion is to motivate others to become persistent enough. Her inspiration and her mentors are self-made millionaires who helped thousands of people to change their lives and who managed to build careers with their passion and vision towards doing something what they love. She also helps young entrepreneurs with business advices and encourages them not to give up on their dreams. She teaches them how to turn dreams into clear visions and ideas, and ideas into actions and results.
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