One thing that has held me back immensely in life is the fact that I generally avoided challenges that I didn’t believe I would succeed at on my first try. I made the mistake of associating failure with being a loser. But nothing could be further from the truth. Think about this quote from MJ.
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed”
– Michael Jordan
Over 100 years before MJ said the above, inventor and businessman, Thomas Edison, made a very similar observation.
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
– Thomas A. Edison
Edison understood that success lies behind a mountain of failure. Once we realize this inescapable truth, we can approach failure from a very positive perspective, as seen in the quote below from Winston Churchill, British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom off and on between 1940 and 1955.
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
– Winston Churchill
So don’t shy away from falling flat on your face. If there is a worthwhile challenge before you, screw up your courage and take it. Expect failure at first. But study your failure. American author, Napoleon Hill, described the right attitude post-failure.
“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
– Napoleon Hill
The natural reflex after a failure can be to wallow in self pity. But the quote above shows that we should be looking for something every time we fail. There is always a lesson to make us better going forward.
Chris Hardwick, American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer, says it well.
“No human ever became interesting by not failing. The more you fail and recover and improve, the better you are as a person. Ever meet someone who’s always had everything work out for them with zero struggle? They usually have the depth of a puddle. Or they don’t exist.”
– Chris Hardwick
In the video below, Chris Howard, host of the Off the Clock podcast hosts a an interview in which his guest (unknown) delivers up the powerful thought;
“You ain’t never lost a day in your life. You either win or you get a lesson.”
– Unattributed
Want More?
I published another post that focuses a little more closely on Michael Jordan’s positive mindset with regards to failure, ironically entitled 10 Benefits of Positive Thinking.
- What is Power Posing?
- Are Dopamine Detoxes a Scam?
- Plan Your Day the Night Before
- First Thing in the Morning
- Selecting a Morning Routine
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* Header image: Sisyphus by Titian
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