Consider failure as a lesson. It brings you another step closer towards your ultimate success. We all have failed a time or two.
When I talk to the most successful people I know, I am always surprised how many times they failed before they succeeded. There is no such thing as an overnight success. The world sees an overnight success but behind the scenes was a person with a dream who failed many times over. Many famous “overnight successes” failed many times before they succeeded such as Thomas Edison, Walt Disney and my most favorite: you.
In the immortal words of Thomas Edison, “I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Don’t take it personally~you failed, you are not a failure. Failure is not a personal reflection on you. Failure is what happened to you.
Want to know how to tell the difference whether you hit a failure or are a failure? The difference is your actions. I have been fired once in my life from a job. The morning after I was fired I laid in bed. I wanted to have my own pity party. I felt like a failure and wanted to quit life. I hated my job but knowing that someone had made the decision that I was not good enough magnified the feelings of failure. The problem was I was 6 months pregnant and had a one year old toddler. My son woke up and was so excited to see me. After getting both of us dressed and going for a walk, I felt much better. My perspective had changed. Even though it would take many years before I opened my law firm, it was that moment I decided I wanted to have my own business. I began to look at the positive and realized I was not a failure.
Make sure you fall forward. What brought you to this point and what can you learn from this experience? We all fail at sometime in our lives. It’s not a “maybe” but “when”. Failure means you are trying something new and putting yourself out there. You are so much ahead of everyone who is living the status quo. Look at what you can learn from this experience. It is through failure we can learn and realize our greatest potential.
If you have had a setback or felt like a failure, let us know in the comments below. Your story may be exactly what someone needs to hear.
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