Jim Rohn said “it’s sad that failures don’t give seminars, we would have learnt a lot from their experience. If you met a man that is dripping with blood and he stopped you and said “the bridge in front is broken”, would you still surge forward?”
Failures don’t give testimonies. They should in my opinion.
The only difference between those who succeed and those who fail has to do with whether or not they decide to rise above their rejection. We all know the names of the most successful people in the world. We hear those names and that makes us want to achieve great things just like they did. We are usually engrossed with their success. However, we never pay attention to the pains and failures that made them who they are today. If you looked closely into their lives, you would see a life that was established in failure and their persistence to succeed.
We all want to succeed and no one wants to be a failure. Even the society has made us to believe that failure is unacceptable, but is this really true?
Do you know that one of the richest women in the world today and the queen of television talk show Oprah Winfrey was fired from her first television job for being too emotional with her stories?
Do you know Thomas Edison? The man who invented the bulb, electrical lamps was told by his teacher that he was too stupid to learn anything? Edison failed over a thousand times to invent the bulb and he said “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”
Do you also know the popular Harry Porter? That great novel was written by a poor single mother, J.K Rowling. Rowling was living off welfare when she began writing the first Harry Porter series and she became the very first billionaire author in 2004.
Do you know the story of Steve Jobs? He was once fired from Apple, but later became the face of the company. Steve believed you have to fail to be successful. He said “If you are afraid of failing, you wouldn’t get very far”.
How many times have you failed? And what have you learnt from your failures?
The fact is that the most successful and famous people in the world have all experienced failures in their lifetime. They have failed over and over again but they didn’t throw in the towel, they got back up! If you study the lives of these people and the lives of most of the successful people in the world, you will learn that their failures offered them a revelatory transformation, the opportunity to learn from their experience and a platform to test their resilience.
The first thing we see when we experience failure is all the negative pieces that come with it. We all understand that it is never a pleasant experience to fail. It is disheartening and often times, painfully difficult to manage. As much as it hurts to fail, we must understand that it is one way to succeed, by failing forward like John Maxwell said. He also said you have to fail early, fail often and also fail forward.
What does Maxwell mean by fail early, often and forward?
By “fail early” he means that you should make your mistakes early in life.
By “fail often” he means you should try your hands on so many possible options because some will work, some won’t. But you can learn through all the experiences.
By “fail forward” he means you should not allow the failure to set you back, instead, it should propel you into higher levels and experiences. This however takes a lot of persistence.
Often times when we fail, we think about the time and resources invested, the energy, the setbacks, the embarrassments from friends and family. However, it is important that we understand that we have failed only when we give up.
Human beings have survival instincts and we have been wired to thrive in difficult situations. We must believe that we are survivors designed to always find a way to make it through the hard times. Failure is not supposed to be final but should instead be a driving force that will push us into our desired goals and objectives.
To achieve success from failure, first, you must document all the lessons from your failed experiences. You need to ask some tough questions, by reaching deep down to figure out what went wrong and what you can do to improve. Most times the answers don’t come right away, but as you continue to push towards achieving your goal, the mystery will gradually unravel.
Secondly, you must embrace failure. The fact is that we all must fail at some point in our lives, so you must be ready to embrace it when it comes. Do not be afraid, rather open your eyes to see the opportunities that the failure has offered you and utilise it to your own advantage.
Jim Rohn is right to say that failures should give seminars. Listening or reading about an individual who has failed makes it more relatable, knowing that everyone fails at one point or the other. Hearing about their failed experiences would reinforce the fact that negative experiences are a requirement for success. This would help you to understand that your reaction to failing, both in the present time and the future, would determine if you would be a success story or a failure story.
Lastly, failure makes you stronger, and guess what? The sweetest victory comes from the toughest experience. So you must be ready to give it your all.
If you fail, rise up, be fiercer and come out stronger than ever before.
Don’t fear failure. Be fearless!