Fail Forward!
What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
Not a very realistic possibility so rather I should ask, if you knew your greatest success would come if you did not fear failing, what would you do?
As students, we learn that failure does not pass. If we don’t pass, we fail. If we fail, we do not go to the next level and we began to take on a label of “failure”.
This is a dangerous philosophy.
The danger of failure isn’t necessarily the disappointment that follows, but how we use that disappointment. We have been habituated to feel unworthy or unaccomplished, as if we just don’t measure up. But avoid classifying yourself a failure. Instead, learn. Understand what did not work. Grow. Ask what can be done better. Improve. Outperform the past.
Zig Ziglar said “Failure is an event, not a person.” This separates the result of failure from ourselves to the event itself. The good news, the event is in the past and you are in the present, headed to the future. Fail. Learn. Grow. Improve.
In John C. Maxwell’s book “Failing Forward”, he shares that failure is not the opposite of success but rather the road to it. He states failure is inevitable and we should embrace it. Maxwell said, “The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.”
Average vs. achieving
Here are some examples of people who embraced their failures to get to the greatest success!
Thomas Edison's teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.” As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb before finding success. He held more than 1,000 patents and invented the incandescent light bulb, phonograph, motion picture camera, as well as many other major inventions. Edison said, “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
Walt Disney was once fired from a newspaper for his lack of creativity. He also failed with this first animation company called Laugh-O-Gram Films. He later created a few classic films with a mouse that changed everything. Disney said, “It is good to have failure… because it teaches you so much.”
Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard and failed in a business he cofounded called Traf-O-Data, a company that generated data for traffic light placement and road improvement. He learned, fueled his gifts, and later created Microsoft and changed the world. Gates said, “It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”
Fred Smith while attending Yale, received a “C” from his economics professor stating his idea for a hub and spoke freight service dedicated to small, time-sensitive air freight was futile given the regulatory climate and hostility of entrenched airlines. Smith said, “Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something.” He later started Federal Express (now called FedEx) on the same idea and it quickly became known for their motto “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”
Michael Jordan missed more than 9,000 shots, lost almost 900 games, and missed the game winning shot 26 times over his NBA career. Jordan said, “I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” He accumulated six NBA championships of which he was the most valuable player in all six. He holds many NBA records to date including the most points scoring average in the NBA finals at 41.
Reggie Jackson holds the number one position in the category of most strike outs at bat with 2,597 in MLB history. Yet, he is ranked #14 in all-time home runs at 563 from his 14 seasons in the MLB. He is a five time world series champion. What many don’t know is Reggie really wanted to play football. He twisted his knee in 1963 and the Dr’s said he would never play again. He overcame. He came back in the same season to break his neck (fractured five cervical vertebrae), and the Dr’s then said he would never walk again. He again overcame. In fact, he turned down Alabama and Georgia to play football at Arizona State where he was also allowed to play baseball. While in the MLB, according to Wayne State University Physicists, they estimated he hit a homerun in 1971 at the all-star game 650 feet. It actually hit a transformer at 400 feet, 90 feet above the ground. Jackson said, “I feel that the most important requirement in success is learning to overcome failure. You must learn to tolerate it, but never accept it.”
Abraham Lincoln experienced failure in 17 of 20 major life events. Yet he became the 16th president of the United States, preserving the Union during the U.S. Civil War, and brought about the emancipation of slaves.
Family forced out of home in 1816 (age of 7)
Mother died 1818
Less than one year formal education
Worked in a failed in business 1831
Defeated for the Legislature in 1832
Failed again in business in 1833
Elected for the Legislature in 1834
Sweetheart died 1835
Defeated for Speaker in 1838
Defeated for Elector in 1840
Married a bad wife 1842
Only one of his four sons lived past the age of 18
Defeated for Congress in 1843
Elected to Congress in 1846
Defeated for Congress in 1848
Defeated for Senate in 1855
Defeated for Vice President in 1856
Defeated for Senate in 1858
Elected to President in 1860
Assonated in 1965
President Abraham Lincoln
“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.”
President Lincoln said, “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” Certainly he was not content and did a lot of learning, growing, and improving, for what he accomplished as President was truly amazing!
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon where it is always day one, and arguably now the largest company in the world said, “If the size of your failures isn't growing, you're not going to be inventing at a size that can actually move the needle.”
Set inspiring goals that will encourage you to take action and fail. For in failure is the best learning that leads to the greatest success. Master Yoda said, “The greatest teacher, failure is.”
Don’t let your fear of failure ever be greater than your fear of inaction for this will surely prevent you from becoming all you are made to be!
You have huge potential and a unique greatness that only YOU can provide. You are amazingly capable. You are equipped and qualified to go after the awakened passions in your heart.
Fail. Learn. Grow. Improve.
Never give up and Fail Forward!