Is failure the key to success?

Is failure the key to success?

Without failure how do we recognize success? We typically view our steps of failure in life negatively. With each failure we question our ability and motivation to keep up the fight in chasing our goals and dreams.

The truth is each failure we endure is a learning lesson for success. The key is to see our failures as lessons to learn from. Failures force us to rethink our strategy to discover an even more sound solution to our challenges in life. We simply have to make a conscious decision to pivot our way of thinking. When the famous inventor of the incandescent light bulb Thomas Edison was asked how he felt about repeatedly failing to design a working light bulb, Thomas responded “I have not failed, I’ve found 1,000 ways not to make a light bulb.”

Thomas Edison was a pioneer of electricity and worked relentlessly to develop the electric filament light bulb. Thomas never let the failure of a design let him down and carefully learned from his mistakes. This attitude led him to the invention of the incandescent light bulb we still use today.

His attitude toward failure is the way I live my life today. We are all going to make mistakes and not get things right the first time and the way we handle this defines us. I have plenty of experiences in my life that could be considered failures, but I view them as learning experiences. Every time I make a mistake, I learn from it and become smarter and stronger, and one step closer to reaching my goals.

Have you ever noticed that some people, when faced with problems, seem to do better rising to the challenge while others fail? What causes some people to move forward when challenged while others step back or even give up? We all have a certain level of comfort with risk due to our knowledge base, experiences, and personality traits. I believe the key factor is the attitude that a person has toward situations. Our attitude and past experiences play a major role in the choices we make when choosing to move forward or retreating when challenged with a problem.

When it comes down to it, we can’t control the outcome of situations. We can control our attitude, perspective, and behavior when challenged with problems or failures. This will allow us to rise again even smarter and stronger to prevail. Remember, you only fail when you give up.

“To succeed you must first learn to fail and it’s within our failures that strength, courage, and determination are born”   ~Daniel Skarie

Article source: https://www.danskarie.com/blog/is-failure-the-key-to-success

Author: Dan Skarie © Nov 2017 www.danskarie.com