Why failure is a pillar of success in your life.
One of the most important parts of life is learning from our mistakes. We learn from them and we grow from them. It’s part of the human experience.
We live in a society that idolizes successful people. We admire their successes, but we don’t understand why they are successful.
The way you deal with failures is what separates successful people from unsuccessful people. In this blog post, we explore what failure really means and why it is so important to our growth as humans.
Failure is not the end, it’s the beginning.
Failure is not the end, it’s the beginning.
It is said that “failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” This is because we can learn a lot from failure.
Failure is the best teacher. It allows us to attain success.
Failing doesn’t mean you’re a bad person or you’re a loser. Failing doesn’t make you a failure. Failing just means you’ve tried and didn’t succeed. It doesn’t change who you are or what you can do.
The key is to learn from the mistakes that you made, and then apply those lessons to avoid repeating them. You can use these valuable lessos as stepping stones to work hard and try new things.
The bottom line is this… if you’re serious about success in life, then you should be ready to fail.
Historic Examples of Failures Turned Into Pillars of Success
Some of the world’s most highly successful people experienced epic failure before realizing success. The world celebrated their success, but sometimes we overlook the road they took to get there. Their stories remind us that with dedication and hard work one can achieve success.
Even if you failed to succeed on your first try, don’t stress too much. Here are five successful people who failed several times and have been finally recognized for their glorious success and achievement.
1. Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison is one of the most famous inventors in the world. He is responsible for creating the first commercially viable incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera.
However, in spite of his accomplishments, he has a history of failing many times before succeeding.
Edison failed many times before he invented the light bulb. He tried hundreds of different approaches to creating a working light bulb, and many of them failed.
And yet, despite all of these failures, Thomas Edison never gave up. He kept trying and experimenting until he created the first commercially viable light bulb.
2. J.K. Rowling
J.K. Rowling is one of the most well-known writers of all time. She has sold over 400 million copies of her books worldwide, and she has earned a total of $2.4 billion.
Her story is an amazing one. She never stopped pursuing her dream of becoming a published author.
Rowling endured real-life struggles. Rowling was on welfare while unemployed and divorced. One day while having a cup of tea, she jotted down the idea of Harry Potter on a napkin.
After she completed writing the first Harry Potter book, she was rejected by 12 publishers. But she persevered and despite the rejections, J.K. Rowling went on to publish that book and six more after that.
Per Nicole Martins Ferreira’s article about examples of failures in Oberlo, “J.K. Rowling is the ninth best-selling fiction author, selling over 500 million copies of her books. The entire Harry Potter franchise alone is worth $25 billion. Her books have been turned into movies. Her characters have been added to merchandise. Today, her net worth is believed to be around $650 million”
Lots of people scribble ideas into journals or napkins, but they never do anything about it.
Rowling changed the world. She did not let failure discourage her. She did something about it.
“All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”
Walt Disney
3. Walt Disney
Walt Disney is remembered for his many successes like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Disneyland. He is well known for being one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time. But for sure, he also saw his share of failures including a bankruptcy, a mental breakdown, etc.
In the early 1930s, Walt’s company was struggling to stay afloat. At that point, he decided to make a movie called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
At the time, Walt’s company wasn’t making any money. In fact, they were losing money. But Walt believed in his project. He put all his money and all his resources into making the movie.
Snow White went on to be a major hit and blockbuster and Disney was able to finally turn things around for his company.
In addition, would it surprise you to know that Walt Disney was rejected more than 300 times before Mickey Mouse became a success?
Disney teaches us how to overcome adversity and shifted his perspective to make him more resilient, adaptable and ‘creative.’ His determination and mindset to think ‘outside the box’ is a role model for all.
4. Sir James Dyson
For those of you who may not know who Sir James Dyson is, allow me to introduce you to a brilliant inventor. You see, Sir James Dyson is the inventor of the world’s first commercially successful vacuum cleaner – the Dyson.
Dyson was obsessed. He wanted to create a vacuum design that didn’t require bags, which was something no one even considered doing at the time.
He persevered and tried design after design. 5,126 vacuum designs later, he finally created a vacuum that worked.
The lesson learned from Dyson is that by constantly creating different designs, you can inch closer to creating something truly innovative, valuable, and needed in the marketplace. The moral to his story, the more you experiment, the more you’ll grow.
5. Steve Jobs
Another famous example is Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Inc. He failed in school and dropped out of college.
Steve Jobs’ first product, the Apple I, was a complete flop.
When he first put it on the market, it failed miserably. Not only was it a total flop, it also cost him over $100,000.
But he didn’t give up. He knew that if he wanted to be a businessman, he would need to find a way to make money.
Instead of giving up on the project and quitting, he decided to try again. He changed the design, and it became the first real success for him.
Have you ever been fired from your job? Then, you’re in good company because Jobs is best known is for the famous firing from the very company he created – Apple after an major disagreement and altercation with the board of directors. Have you ever been fired from your job?
In fact, Jobs said that the firing actually helped him enter a creative period resulting in the acquisition of the animation studio, Pixar. But that’s not all.
In 1997, Jobs was hired back at Apple. His innovations continued inventing some of the greatest technologies at the company such as the iPod, Macbook and iPhone. He took his setbacks and acknowledged them and made every failure he had to achieve other goals and dreams he had.
Jobs passed away losing his battle with pancreatic cancer in 2011. His net worth was an estimated $10.2 billion. Incredible for someone who was fired from his own company, eh?
Fail Fast – Learn From Your Mistakes
Fail fast. Fall forward.
A great way to get ahead is to fail fast and learn faster.
In today’s culture, there are many Fortune 500 companies that embrace failure as the most effective path to learning.
According to Gary Burnison, the CEO of Korn Ferry and author of “The Leadership Journey: How to Master the Four Critical Areas of Being a Great Leader, he states:
“The best learning comes from failure. The sheer emotionality of it drives the lessons home in a way that can’t be replicated by a textbook or lecture. At the same time, you need to shake off those emotions so you can absorb the learning and try again, only this time with the benefit of the wisdom that comes from a painful experience. It’s like the baseball player who strikes out and then needs to clear his mind before the next time he’s at bat.”
Successful people fail and learn from their failures. They don’t keep beating themselves up, they keep moving forward, and they keep learning.
Learning from your mistakes is one of the most important pillars of success. Failures teach you how to make better decisions.
Failure Teaches Us to Get Back Up & Succeed in Life
Most of us would agree that we all have failed at something in our lives. It’s how we deal with that failure that matters.
I’ve seen people who never try to do anything new and are content to be mediocre at their jobs. They say that they enjoy their job because it’s not very difficult.
People who are obsessed with perfectionism are afraid to fail and avoid taking risks. What they don’t realize is that failure teaches us to get back and try again.
The ‘bigger the risk, the bigger the reward’ comes with embracing that risk will include mistakes or failures along the way. But you can change your perspective and view them as opportunities in moving forward in a more proficient way.
Most people spend their whole lives looking for shortcuts and magical solutions. They look for ways to avoid failure, and they try to find someone who can give them the answers.
But this is the wrong way to think… that’s because “successful people” aren’t born that way. They’re made.
Because they’ve learned how to deal with failure, and they’ve learned how to avoid it.
It’s a cycle that is never-ending.
Achieve Your Goals Through Failure & Past Mistakes
The truth is, success and failure are linked. Chances are you will fail several times before you achieve your goals. This just means you continue to get back up.
So, how does failure actually lead to success?
So many people live in fear of failing that they don’t even try to achieve something.
You don’t want to be that person. Even if you don’t achieve a specific goal, chances are you’ve made some progress. The question is, what will you do with both the failure and the success?
Instead, use failure as a learning opportunity.
Take the time to look at where things started to go wrong. Analyze what happened and figure out what caused that failure and learn from it. This works with success as well as failure. Every time we set goals, we have the opportunity to learn something new.
Failure may simply mean the beginning of new opportunities you never thought of before. You can take ‘failure’ and turn it into momentum in achieving your goals.
Final Last Words
Failure is a pillar of ultimate success.
It may sound crazy, but you must embrace failure as a pillar of ultimate success. It’s not because you’ll fail all the time, it’s because you’ll fail often. And that’s okay.
So you’re going to fail. A lot. But guess what? That’s okay.
By repositioning how you view failure, you’ll find it easier to overcome obstacles to achieve even greater success.
Let’s talk about it. What’s been your biggest failure so far? How did you overcome it? Please share in the comments below.
