We all know that improvement comes from many, MANY tiny failures. In fact, the more we fail, the greater our chances of success (not always, but most of the time).
I mean, let’s face it. If someone is worse at anything than you, then it’s probably because they haven’t been through all of the learning experiences you’ve been through.
Let’s a take a common example most of us can relate to from our own experience.
A heartbreak.
We all know that after every heartbreak, which is practically a failure and a hell of a painful experience, we often blame our ex, but eventually, will start to look at ourselves a little more. From our self-assessment, we then begin to change some aspects of our own character. We tend to develop a stronger sense of self, become more careful with whom we trust, build greater emotional resilience, and once the pain fades, we live a happier life.
The same is true for failure. Every time we fail at something or have some sort of existential crisis we always begin to carry out a self-assessment and redefine some of our values in life all for the purpose of being better than before.
The problem is, is that many people are afraid of failure and tend to avoid it at all costs. Simply because they think that failure shouldn’t be part of their value system as this could make them feel worthless.
And I’m starting to think that it is largely attributable to our education system and helicopter parenting strategies, in which failure cannot be tolerated and is considered a sign of weakness rather than a valuable learning experience. On top of that, we have the mass media that only presents us with the greatest success stories of all time and celebrities whom we gawk up to, that are, in reality, just as clueless about life as a lobotomized rock.
You see, our perspective on life, people and business only radically change when we go through our worst moments and experience situations of serious adversity. These moments are commonly referred to as hitting rock bottom.
I, therefore, believe that it is really important that we learn to become comfortable with failure and f*cking up. Because every time we do f*ck up, we begin to pick apart our value system, re-assess it, and put it back together in a better and improved way.
Thanks for reading 🙂
Are you someone who avoids failure? Or are you a fan of it? And why do you think many people tend to avoid it?