The Perceptions, Realities, and Benefits of Failure

“If you tried to do something but couldn’t, you are far better off
 than if you had tried to do nothing and succeeded.”
-John Ragland, Jr

It is likely that over the years you have heard many quotations like the one above on the subject of failure. They commonly attempt to offer a positive outlook on the fact that you failed. How did we become such emotionally fragile beings that we are damaged by the notion of failure, which simply means “lack of success in a specific endeavor”. Engine failure. Math test failure. Failure in an endeavor does not the person a failure. That’s a judgement imposed by others… or worse ourselves. Quotes like the above are poetic attempts at getting people off their asses, but they should come with qualifications! If I tried to skydive and fail is that worse than doing nothing? At least if I hadn’t done it I could choose the next day to do something else, like volunteer at a homeless shelter.

There are those that address failure from the perspective that it is just that… perspective… that it exists purely in the way you look at things. And others realize that success only comes after attempting to remedy failures.

“There is no such thing as failure. No one ever fails at anything.
Everything you do produces a result.
The real question is what you do with the results that you produce.
Failure is a judgment. It’s your opinion. It comes from your fears. “
-Wayne Dyer, PhD

“If you can meet triumph and disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same…
yours is the earth and everything in it.”
-Rudyard Kipling

Long after inventing the light bulb Thomas Edison was working to invent a storage device for electricity…the battery. At one point he had 25,000 failed attempts.
When asked by a reporter, “How does it feel… failing 25,000 times.”
Edison replied, “Fail?” Today I know 25,000 ways not to make a battery.”

Failure is contextual and time dependent. If the goal is not achieved then temporal failure exists.
It’s what you do with that fact internally that makes all the difference! So “failure” could be considered a key to the process of progress… and absolutely vital to the process of mastery!

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
-Michael Jordan

“Some people think that when a lot of things go wrong,
all of which are small and insignificant,
that it’s to protect something perfect that wants to come into your life.”
-Carolyn Myss

“You are responsible for the effort, but not the outcome.”
-David Hawkins, MD, PhD

“The outcome of an event is much less significant than what we become
through the experience of the event.”
-Gregg Braden

“The things we are adding or improving (information, weight, reps) are just signs of progress,
but do not necessarily constitute progress.
The processes that allowed us to add or improve is where progress occurs. The state of the brain, muscle, nervous system… these are where the progress actually exists”
-Tom Purvis

“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.
Fear of being wrong kills creativity.”
-Sir Ken Robinson

“Success is moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”