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Is Failure Bad?
In popular culture, failure is called a bad thing. Failure is the end of the game. You lose. When you fail, you become a loser, a failure. Average people think failure is the opposite of success. Of course we know that success is a process not a destination. Failure is not a destination either. Failure is actually a status report on your success path. It measures how you compare to where you planned to be, how you measure up to your goals and your schedule. It means nothing without a reference point. If you don’t have a goal or a plan, you can’t fail. You are where you are- nowhere. The only people who never fail are those who never set a goal and never make a plan. What do we call those people? We call them average.
Aim High
So when you set out on your success path, expect to fail. Set up ambitious goals. Aim high. When you do, you will always accomplish more than when you aim low or don’t aim at all. An easy goal allows you to be complacent. It doesn’t push you to use every one of your abilities. It doesn’t make you grow and learn. When you set ambitious goals, even goals that seem unreachable and you commit to work the plan that you make, every one of your talents is focused and you find power and resources you didn’t think you had. You soar.
Fail Magnificently
And then you fail to reach your ambitious goal. Does that make you a loser? You failed to reach your goal. Popular culture says yes. You failed. But the level you reached struggling toward your ambitious goal took you way beyond the timid goals and accomplishments of the ‘successful’. If you are on a success path, you seek to fail because it means that you are pushing yourself to do more, be more and achieve more. That is what extraordinary people do and they fail and fail and fail again on their success path.
Failure is a badge of honor
Don’t be afraid to fail. Always remember that failure is a badge of honor. It demonstrates that you are challenging yourself, aiming high. And when you fail, don’t stop and feel sorry for yourself. Don’t beat yourself up. Learn all you can from that failure. What could you have done more of? What could you have done better? What did you learn? Then revel in your accomplishments. How far you soared. How close you got to the goal. And then set yourself another impossible goal and fail again.
Hey Ralph,
Failure reminded me of my teacher in high school who used to say that it is easy to pass an exam , but very hard to fail.
Interesting post
.-= Sudeep´s last blog ..Ardha Chandrasana =-.
Sudeep,
What did you think he meant? Sounds like a blog post to me.
Well I know I am 2 years to late to comment but this was a really moving post. I wish I would have read it at the time of writing!
.-= Ryan Hanzel´s last blog ..Being a loving person =-.
Absolutely! My mantra is go big or go home. I’d rather fail magnificently and have a story and learning experience out of it, then live an inauthentic and boring life. Nice post.
.-= Katie´s last blog ..A garden is what you make it =-.
Ryan,
I am confused – more than usual- two years too late? Maybe for something but I wrote this today. What am I missing?
Katie,
Right on!
Hey Ralph, good to see some debate here, I always thing of failure as a slightly different thing.
Failure to me is never giving it another go.
Top post here Ralph
.-= TheInfoPreneur´s last blog ..Onward The Brave =-.
James,
That is what I call giving up.
I like how you write that people should expect to fail. Our minds think alike: http://ariwriter.com/resolve-to-fail-in-2010/
.-= Ari Herzog´s last blog ..Share 1 Online Marketing Tip and Win 250 Free Business Cards via PrintRunner =-.
Well, not to pick a fight Ari. I don’t exactly think you should expect to fail, just that you shouldn’t let it get you down.
.-= Ralph´s last blog ..Up with Failure =-.
That’s true, Ralph. You don’t enter a romantic relationship expecting it to fail but don’t let it depress you (too much) when it does.
.-= Ari Herzog´s last blog ..Showcase Sunday: How RescueTime Tracks Your Online Productivity =-.
Ari,
You would find my achilles heel.
Julius,
The lost shall be found.
And you can never fail if you aren’t trying.
Absolutely Winnie
My son is an over achiever and I’ve always tried to teach him that it was ok to fail. That failure was apart of life. If someone can’t accept failure when they do fail at something, and everyone fails at something in their life they will be unable to accept that failure. Hope that made since.
.-= Rose´s last blog ..How to remove images from image search =-.
It’s good advice. How does he take it?