Failure and Why It Isn't

Michael Barnes

Failure and Why It Isn't

There are many times in my life I have failed at something. From little instances to life changing actions, I have made a lot of mistakes, had lots of failures, but in the end, I learned a lot about what I was doing, and most importantly, myself.

There are people out there who profess to never fail at what they are doing. I am one of those people who believes every word of that statement. It’s all in your perception. Did you fail, or did you learn something so you can try again and change something in your process? It’s all in how you look at things. Thomas Edison was asked one time, “why do you keep trying to make a light bulb when you have failed 500 times?” He replied, “I didn’t fail to make a light bulb 500 times, I discovered 500 ways not to make a light bulb.” This mindset and dedication to your task or your long term goals will always get you to where you are going.

It also leads to success if you stay on it. This is where the phrase “I have never failed” always comes into play. Michael Jordan, considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time, was cut from his high school team. So what did he do? He worked harder and put in more hours of practice and then got to where he was in high demand, multiple colleges offering scholarships to play for them, and now years later history is telling us he is one of the greatest of all time. And how did he do it? All he did was keep trying and practicing and never give up.

So how do you change your mindset to start achieving what you want out of life? There are a host of reasons why we get derailed in our goals and projects. The important thing is not to get too derailed, keep your focus, and if the distraction is something big, it’s ok to stop and handle the distraction and come back to it. Sometimes that will give you the break you need in order to have a fresh perspective on the project or task you are working on, and when you try again, you can incorporate that inspiration into it and see if it works.

This can work both with anything physical you are working on (car, a woodworking project, things like that) and your life.

How can this work in life?

Do you remember a time when you completed something, only to get told it was wrong or not to the quality that was expected? This is the most soul-crushing feeling anyone can experience. And sometimes the rebuke is so nice and understanding it hurts even worse? That is the worst. It feels like you are not worthy, not competent, and all you want to do is crawl into a hole and bring it in with you. This in turn causes you to doubt everything else you did before that point and wonder if you did the best on those projects. Self-doubt will run rampant in your mind seemingly forever.

Remember, failure is a label, a label of our own making. Sometimes we take this label and do everything in the world to prove it wrong. Albert Einstein once stated: ”Insanity is doing something over and over expecting a different result.” From dating or marrying the wrong person to a project that isn’t working, doing it over and over again is just wasting time. Now there is a difference. If you are doing it again to see what happened, that’s ok for projects, but when it comes to dating or marriage, it’s not the best idea. (but between the two, dating is far better than getting married to the wrong person!)

So is failure something to be avoided at all costs? Do you make sure you’ve anticipated every possible outcome before you take a step? Maybe you think to start an action, but talk yourself out of it? Remember, failure is defined as a lack of success; but it is only a moment of time. From there, you can find success and success on YOUR terms.

It’s time to make YOUR TERMS!

Michael Barnes is a life coach and speaker on the key to unlocking the 5 aspects of a life worth living. Book a free chat here and see how he can help you start a life worth living.

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