5 Best Reasons Why Failure is Important for Success
I urge you to fail. Yup, that’s right, I dare you to fail. Why? Because to be a successful person you need to fail. These are the 5 Best Reasons Why Failure is Important for Success.
Failure is a natural part of life. Many business owners, leaders, celebrities, and professional athletes are built on failure. While we often view failure as a negative concept, there are valuable lessons we can learn from it.
Most of us avoid failure at all costs. That’s understandable because failure hurts. It brings feelings of embarrassment, disappointment, sadness, and even anger. We may even want to throw in the towel on what we’re trying to do.
But as we face failure and gain a deeper understanding of what it means, we realize that it’s often the best teacher on how to achieve our goals. That’s why I’m sharing the 5 Best Reasons Why Failure is Important for Success.
Failure and success are two sides of the same coin. We need failure to recognize, understand, and appreciate great success. Instead of viewing failing as a source of pain and frustration, use it to your advantage and inspiration on the journey to make your dreams come true.
What is the Definition of Failure?
Failure is simply a lack of success. The idea of failure can be scary for most of us but when we look at it in different ways we realize that a lack of success today doesn’t mean lacking success tomorrow. The lessons we choose to take are what lead us to our ultimate goals.
It’s important to also note that no one should be defined as a failure. This could be the root cause of why we see it negatively. It’s not part of anyone’s identity because who we are is determined by our creator and that’s God.
So instead of having a fear of failure, learn to see it as a source of inspiration. This is a better way of framing it which leads you on the journey to success.
Failure means you’re willing to start
You can’t fail something you never attempt.
It’s kind of like me and the lottery. No matter how ginormous the winnings pool gets, I’ll NEVER win. Do you know why? Because I don’t play. Now, that’s not me being negative.
I can talk to myself all day long about winning the lottery. I can believe 100 percent in my spirit that I will win the lottery. I can write a goal to win the lottery this year. But none of those success principles will help me because I can’t win something I don’t start.
We don’t have a chance to fail or win at something if we choose not to start.
- If you don’t get out on the court, you can’t fail in the game of basketball – but you also can’t win.
- If you don’t step across the start line of that race, you can’t fail – but you also can’t cross the finish line.
- If you don’t take a risk on a project at work, you can’t fail – but you also won’t get a promotion.
- If you don’t open your heart and love, you won’t risk heartbreak – but you will also feel desperately alone.
- If you don’t apply for the job, you won’t be rejected- but you won’t get your dream job.
I’m going to go a bit further and say that if you don’t start, you automatically fail. My definition of failure is not doing anything at all.
Those who risk more gain more. Those who love more are blessed more. Those who give more are given more. Don’t stay on the sidelines. Step into the race of life and choose to fail as many times as you need to win at your game.
Failure means you’re willing to try and adjust
Fear of failure limits a lot of people who might have been successful if they had tried. It is better to try and fail than not try at all.
Trying is the first step, failing is the second step, and adjusting is the third step. Failing is the fourth step. Adjusting is the fifth step. Failing is the sixth step. Adjusting is the seventh step… and that process continues until you figure it out and win.
If you keep going – try, fail, and adjust – you will eventually find what works and succeed. The problem with this? Most people quit after failure number one.
Almost every successful person you know has had to deal with failing. If Thomas Edison wasn’t willing to fail 1,000 times, then we may not know the light bulb and electricity like we do today.
If Babe Ruth weren’t willing to fail 50 percent of the time, he wouldn’t be a Hall of Famer with the most home runs earned. If Martin Luther King, Jr., weren’t willing to fail and take the ridicule he did, we may not have heard or been affected by his “I Have a Dream speech” that shook the nation.
You may not think your passions or dreams can shake a nation, but they sure as ever can move somebody in your life, and if you have kids, those are the people who will be affected the most.
5 Best Reasons Why Failure is Important for Success
The prospect of failure may be scary but it provides amazing opportunities that can lead us to our outcome goals. Some of the most successful people we admire have had the biggest failures. Until you’ve been through the worst, you won’t appreciate the best.
Failure is an important part of life and a stepping stone to success. It grows us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. You learn something new every time you fail at something.
With that said, these are the 5 Best Reasons Why Failure is Important for Success.
Failure teaches you to be Resilient
Resilience in Dictionary.com is described as “the ability of a person to adjust to or recover readily from illness, adversity, major life changes.” It’s one of the most important skills to have in life.
It’s a never-give-up spirit which is truly a winning spirit. When you’re resilient you can build grit, and motivation and adapt to different situations.
Instead of having the fear of failure, we can build resilience and understand how to own mistakes and get back on track after we fail.
Resilience helps us build a growth mindset. This is a mindset that embraces challenges, changes, constructive feedback, and constructive criticism.
A fixed mindset is not open to learning, gaining new insights, or receiving feedback. It doesn’t help you succeed because change is inevitable in life so we need to be adaptable, learn and grow.
Babies teach us resilience. As they learn to walk, they fall and stumble many times but they pick themselves again over and over until they master walking. And when they do start walking, we forget all those painful moments that led them there and celebrate their achievement.
It’s the same with us. Once you finally reach your big dream, all the failures would have been worth it and you won’t even dwell on them.
Failure makes you a better person
One of the Best Reasons Why Failure is Important for Success is it teaches us about real life. Your own failures teach you an important lesson on how to increase your mental fitness and become better equipped to handle the ups and downs of life.
That painful encounter teaches you that being a perfectionist is detrimental to your goals. When you make mistakes you relate better to other human beings around you. It’s a great teacher of empathy, compassion, patience and kindness.
Failure shows you your weaknesses and strengths. It helps you to believe in yourself and your abilities. You realize the value of hard work to reach your biggest dreams. It teaches you persistence. You become supportive of those struggling around you and do what you can to help them.
Failing is a great place to learn humility. You learn that you’ve got limitations, are vulnerable, and can’t do everything on your own. You need the support and help of others and God in life. In the long run, all these lessons make you a better person.
Failure is not the end of the world. Rather, it helps you move forward to achieving great things. This sounds strange, but it’s true.
Failure leads to innovation
Every time you fail, you learn a way that doesn’t work, and you can start again with a fresh idea. Our failures can be our stepping stones to our goals and successes!
John Maxwell calls this dynamic “failing forward.” He says:
“In life, the question is not if you will have problems, but how you are going to deal with them. Stop failing backward and start failing forward.”
When we go through a major failure or little failure, instead of having a negative mindset about the experience, we must take time to reflect and pay close attention to what went wrong.
Failure is important for success because it leads us to think of innovative solutions and different angles to achieve our goals. We become creative, gain new skills, find new avenues to win, try new ways of overcoming obstacles, and implement new strategies for success.
We gain new insights that help us to avoid repeating the same mistakes. This learning process makes us smarter.
The difference between average people and those who find success is their response to failure. Average people perceive failure as a negative and don’t want anything to do with it. They want to stay in their comfort zone and avoid it at all costs.
Successful people respond differently. They see failure as a fundamental part of the process, a learning tool, something that can grow their character, lead to personal development, and propel them forward. Thousands of people have failed in their lives, from Thomas Alwa Edison, Elon Musk, and even Walt Disney. But they kept going and didn’t stop.
Along that same train of thought, did you know that Dr. Suess, the beloved children’s writer had his first manuscript rejected 27 times? He failed 27 times before seeing his name in print.
No one likes failing, but the ones who take that failure the first time and use it next time are the ones who crush their goals. Are you willing to fail the most? Are you willing to fail forward?
Failure makes us strong and courageous
Instead of viewing failure as the worst thing that can happen to you, take it as a lesson in your personal growth. Failure tests your mindset, determination, and character.
It opens the door to getting to know yourself and realize your potential. You can do your best work using the irreplaceable knowledge of failure to propel you forward.
You become strong and courageous when you fail. You learn that taking risks is part of life. The strongest people are those who’ve gone through a tough time and come out the other side with the biggest lessons and wisdom.
When you fail, you realize that you’re stronger than you think and you develop unstoppable perseverance.
Failure is Important for Success because you evaluate the big picture
When you try something and fail, you get a moment to evaluate the big picture. Sometimes you get so caught up in the task that you don’t give yourself time to see if it’s the best way or if it’s serving your vision, values, or big picture.
It’s a good thing to pause, process your emotions, and gain a new perspective on what you’re doing. You may decide to stay the course with new ideas or take a different direction altogether.
When you give yourself time, you may find that through failure you realize new opportunities for completing the task. Either way, failure is one of life’s greatest teachers in mapping the path for the future.
Quotes about the Benefits of Failure
These are some of my favorite quotes that teach about the importance of failure. You can use them as a source of inspiration to propel you forward. They show that failure isn’t a bad thing, and it’s actually necessary on the path to success.
“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”
Denis Waitley
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default.”
J.K. Rowling
Your progress might not be visible at once, but you are perfecting your skills and how to get it done. Thomas Edison reminds us to never give up but to keep trying. He’s often known to have said, “I have not failed 10,000 times—I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”
Bill Gates’ first idea failed. But he went on to find new opportunities, and a few years later, created the Microsoft product, and forged a new path to success.
“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”
Bill Gates
Oprah Winfrey was fired from her first job, yet she is now a media mogul. This is what she says about failure.
“Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.”
Oprah Winfrey
“So go ahead. Fall down. The world looks different from the ground.”
Oprah Winfrey
“What I’ve learned from running is that the time to push hard is when you’re hurting like crazy, and you want to give up. Success is often just around the corner.”
James Dyson
This famous phrase from James Dyson, yes, the vacuum Dyson is amazing. I want to share his story because it shows the power of failure.
It took him 5, 126 different ways of trying to make vacuum designs to get a product that worked correctly. He failed 5, 125 times!! But guess what? In 2017, the Dyson company made 1.03 billion dollars. All of those failures were worth it, don’t you think? The correct answer is a big YES!
Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team yet became a successful professional athlete. Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper job for lack of creativity yet became one of the creative geniuses of the 20th century.
In the end, from all these track records we can conclude that failure is beneficial. It is beneficial for us and for those whom our lives touch. Failure is Important for Success.
What Does the Bible Say about Failure?
We know that as long as we are following Christ then we are not failing. My mind goes immediately to Paul, first called Saul.
We meet Saul as he is persecuting the early Christians. He is zealous for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he feels this new doctrine of Jesus as Messiah is false. He wants to stop it from spreading and persecuting the early church.
God sets him straight while on the road to Damascus by speaking to him and blinding him for a period. From this point on Paul gives his life to serve Christ and spread the Gospel.
He founded churches all over what is now known as the Middle East, and his letters to them instruct and guide us still today.
Paul pens this verse to the church in Corinth after praying about what he refers to as a “thorn in the flesh” which he asked God to heal him of. This is God’s response.
“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
What does the Bible say about failure? One of the Best Reasons Why Failure is Important for Success is that we must be weak and allow God’s strength to carry us. Isn’t that wonderful? We don’t have to do it by ourselves!
As long as you are following God’s voice, you cannot fail. He will guide you. He confesses this again to the church in Philippi.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:13
I dare you to quit worrying about failure. Failure is a necessary means to success, and if you’re not willing to fail, you’ll either never begin, or you’ll quit the first time you fail.
Failure is inevitable. It hurts and doesn’t make us feel good. But it can be a great teacher when we choose to learn from the previous experience and try new things. That way we move one step closer to reaching our goals.
We need to redefine failure. When you fail, it means you’re willing to start, you’re willing to try and adjust, and you’re moving forward.
The 5 Best Reasons Why Failure is Important for Success are that failure can teach you key lessons. Instead of being defeated by failure, you can choose to become courageous, and resilient, evaluate the bigger picture, come up with creative solutions, and become a better person in the long run.
Are you ready to fail the most if it means winning your dream? I hope this has given you the courage you need to accept that failure is good for you and jump in with both feet!
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