These 20 Lessons From Failure Will Open Your Eyes

These 20 Lessons From Failure Will Open Your Eyes

I’m sure that you, my reader, are quite familiar with the concept of failure both as an experience and perhaps as something you or at least someone you know dreads.

The most negative perception of this unpleasant reality of our existence made me come up with these unfun facts. Having been so used to ‘fun facts’ about fun kinds of stuff, perhaps it is high time I coined unfun facts for not-so-fun kinds of stuff. 😉 

Either way, the goal of this journey I am with you is to unravel your bitter-tasting experiences with failure and position you for the extraction of good from the not-so-pleasant. After all, not many great-tasting herbs are out there yet they do have what it takes to do our bodies a lot of good.

The facts

1. Everyone is involved

Everyone has somehow, somewhere failed at something; failure is more common than you might actually think! What has happened to you isn’t a unique, one-of-a-kind sort of stuff. Given the age of the world, it is quite hard to pioneer any form of failure except you are trying to create another universe. Every inventor or author failed at something at some point before trying again, so don’t worry, you’re not alone. 🙂

Read: The incredible life and achievements of limbless Nick Vujicic

2. The easiest thing

Given average conditions, it is easier to fail than to succeed; it is the simple principle of entropy. All you have to do most times to flunk that test is Nothing – do nothing. You want to achieve nothing, do nothing. Remember, prior preparation prevents poor performance. Similarly, no preparation at all prevents good performance.

3. A process that leads to success

Provided you are determined, what we call failure most times is the inevitable inconvenience that accompanies a very healthy process of growth. An all too common example is a baby that’s just learning to walk – she isn’t a failure for stumbling and landing time and again on her butt, but she is a success for getting up every time she falls.

4. It shapes you

Failure defines an event, your thoughts and subsequently, your choice. It defines the extent of the influence of that event. Hence, it makes you a better mentor and counsellor to those looking up to you and those currently in your previous shoes. The truth is, failure isn’t always the opposite of success. It can sometimes be an opportunity for unprecedented success.

5. Failure travels faster

Have you ever wondered why the news of people who couldn’t finish a race get known in a jiffy? The reason is simple, failure gains magnification by the number of people talking about it. The shock and notoriety that comes with failure make it spread like wildfire. If you doubt me, compare the stories of those who made it through ups and downs and those who had all they wanted within their wealthy grasps and see which one is more popular.

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6. It always has a lesson

If you look inwards and you are highly teachable by circumstances and situations, you will know that there is a sweet lesson it taught you. However, failure loses its capacity to teach when we do two things – hide it or deny it. So, as long as you don’t hide it or deny it but spread it as a lesson learnt to others, it becomes sweet. You also indirectly becoming a mentor to untold millions.

7. It exposes your weakness

Great leaders never say they know it all. They acknowledge the fact that there is always a room to learn something new asides what they already know. When we fail, it shows us what we are not ‘at all’ or what we are not ‘yet’.

In other words, it is an excellent opportunity for unbiased self-assessment. Therefore, you assess the faults and close the gaps. That’s the only way to build strength around it. You just need to accept the fact that it’s time to get over it and then overcome it. The funny thing is you can overcome your failures.

Having dealt with unfun facts, let us take the next step on the reorientation ladder which is actually a regurgitation of the thoughts and experiences of men and women who have had the distinct privilege of interacting objectively with the concept and condition of failing.

In other words, this step is squarely placed on the shoulder of giants!

The following quotes should spring you fully into it:

8. “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” – Og Mandino

9. “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas A. Edison

10. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill

11. “Do not be afraid of mistakes, provided you do not make the same one twice.”  – Eleanor Roosevelt

12. “Failure is an event, not a person” – Zig Ziglar

13. “The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want right now” – Zig Ziglar

14. “Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.” – Cicero

15. “Failure is the foundation of success, and the means by which it is achieved.” – Lao Tzu

16. “Failure is simply an opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford

17. “The errors of great men are venerable because they are more fruitful than the truths of little men.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Read this too: Are you extraordinarily intelligent?

18. “Don’t bury your failures, let them inspire you.” – Robert Kiyosaki

19. “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

20. “Fear regret more than failure.” – Taryn Rose

As a bonus, this has encouraged and worked for me incredibly time after time – The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delighteth in his way.  Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand – Psalms 37:23-24.

The lesson:

When you fall, make sure you pick two at least two things up – the first is yourself, the second is your dignity because failure is not fatal.

The point of the unfun facts, the quotes and the lesson are to empower you to do the business of living without any form of phobia for failing.

So, there you go – make fun and fancy stuff from those blocks broken by failure.