Winston Churchill once said, “Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.”
In this quote, Churchill indicates that failure isn’t a bad thing, like so many perceive it to be. Take our daughter Audrey, for example. She’s 16 months old and every day is filled with failure. She falls down countless times, misses her mouth with her fork, and diligently works to figure out the right way to get all of her puzzle pieces in the correct place. But she never gives up and she never feels sorry for herself. She just tries again, relentlessly, until she’s accomplished what she’s trying to do.
Failing at something doesn’t mean that we are failures. Our failures do not define us. What defines us is our reaction to these situations and what we do after them. It’s important that we learn something from these experiences. That we shake off the dust, get back up, and try again.
It’s also important to not fear failure. If we make decisions out of our fear of failing, we’ll miss out on a lot of positive opportunities & learning experiences. Had Michael Jordan done this, he never would have played another game of basketball after being cut from his high school team. Instead he used his failure as motivation to practice harder and eventually became the greatest player in the history of the game.
It’s this trying again mentality that really shows a person’s true colors.
So the next time you fail a lift, that presentation doesn’t go as planned, or you completely bomb your test, brush off the dust, get back up, and try again. Take risks and don’t be afraid to fail. Because without failure, there is no growth.
