Everyone wants to be successful.
In our attempts to succeed, we often fail.
Even though failure is a part of life, it is still hard for us to cope with it. Today, we are going to take a realistic look at some easy-to-do things that will help us deal with failure when it occurs.
Whether you’re dealing with a personal setback, a problem at work, a financial issue (such as a failed investment), or any other kind of failure you experience in your life, there are many strategies that you can use to change the way that you think about failure and deal with it when it occurs.
The biggest one? Accept that failure is a part of life and move on.
In 2017, inspirational crash survivor and singer Kechi Okwuchi was on America’s Got Talent (AGT). One song she sang said we all make mistakes. “We all make mistakes; you might fall on your face… don’t’ ever give up” Listen to the video here. The song starts at 1:50, and she sings this quote for the first time at 2:20.
The second biggest one? Never give up.
Think back to when you were a child, and you were learning how to ride a bike. I bet you fell off your bike a few times before you learned to write it correctly without falling, right? But did you give up? No. You kept trying until you mastered riding that bike! Apply this same principle to life (never give up) the next time you experience failure.
This is one of the best lessons learned by many accomplished people.
Famous People Who Have Failed
In fact, a lot of very famous people failed numerous times before they succeeded in reaching their goals!
Henry Ford, a pioneer in the automobile industry, failed twice (and went bankrupt) before starting a third company, selling over 17 million units of the Model T.
Albert Einstein, who didn’t speak a word until age 4, failed the entrance exam for Zurich’s Swiss Federal Polytechnic school. This is the same individual “who brought us the theory of relativity, with groundbreaking work done in physics and mathematics, and helped us to reach deeper understandings about how the universe works, developing several fundamentals core laws governing physics, won the Nobel Prize in 1921 and created the beginnings of quantum theory.” (Source)
Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, said, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star in 1919 because, according to his editor, he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”
Thomas Edison, the inventor of the lightbulb, failed thousands of times, and stated, “Why would I feel like a failure? And why would I ever give up? I now know over 9,000 ways an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp.”
10 More Ways to Deal with Failure
Aside from persevering, there are many different ways that you can accept that failure is a part of life and move on.
Here are ten more:
1: Talk about it. Speak with your colleagues, speak with your friends, and talk with your family members. By talking things over with others, you can see where you went wrong, and then you can see where you need to make changes in order to experience success the next time.
2: Change the way that you think about failure. Change your definition of failure, too.
3: Change your mindset. This can be done in one of three ways.
You can use positive affirmations.
You can use meditation combined with the Law of Attraction and visualization.
You can conquer your fears.
4: Remove negativity from your life. There are many ways that you can do this. In my book, From Nope to Hope, several are taught. For example, you can cry, scream, write, meditate or pray, detach yourself, shift your perspective, start using a gratitude journal, stop interacting with negative people, stop watching the news, limit and observe your use of social media, and form healthy habits in your life.
Each of these things are elaborated upon in my book.
5: Stop seeking approval from others. Live your own life and stop caring what others think.
This is particularly hard to do especially if you are always seeking approval from your family members, for example, your spouse or your parents. If you need help in this area, read What Do You Do When Your Family Does Not Support You Emotionally.
6: Stop dwelling on the past and move forward. Don’t allow yourself to get depressed. Don’t brood. Don’t focus on the negative. Instead, focus on the positive and let your past go. Learn from your mistakes and move on. Stop being jealous, too.
And remember Shane Parrish’s words: “It’s not the failures that define us so much as how we respond.”
7: Use motivational quotes to stay positive and inspired. For example, I use Facebook a lot and so one of the first things I see in my news feed are the posts from the page called Daily Motivational Quotes.
You can also buy or make things to hang on your walls at home. I have several inspiring quotes written on paintings I did to help me stay positive.
8: Listen to podcasts or Ted Talks to help keep you inspired. Often, when we hear the stories of others, we can compare them against our own lives and experiences, and we can see the differences and the similarities, which will cause us to feel better about ourselves. Also read 5 Tips to Become Highly Motivated.
9: Make a plan and then take action. Sit down with a notebook, an Excel spreadsheet, a Google Sheet (FREE!), or a daily planner, and plan out your strategy for the upcoming week(s) or month(s).
10: Be a doer. Take action steps and enlist help from others. Use life coach and author Maxwell Ivey’s motto: “Take one small step today and take another tomorrow.” Once you do just one thing, you will gain momentum and want to do more.
Max is the author of Leading You Out of the Darkness into the Light, which is an inspirational guide to success. In this book are the 11 essential steps to success. I’ve read this book and followed his advice. As a result, I’m happy and successful!
Failure is Just One “F” Word
But so is fantastic! And… that is how you will feel if you faithfully follow the fabulous advice for how to deal with failure that is given in this fascinating article!
If you STILL have problems with failure, then use the SlideShare called How to Succeed Even When You Feel Like Giving Up for further inspiration:
Lorraine Reguly, B.A./B.Ed., is an author and English teacher-turned-freelancer for hire. Her life journey is motivational and inspirational. Lorraine’s book, From Nope to Hope, is a self-help book designed to help anyone who wishes to lead a happier life and contains a built-in workbook. Lorraine offers four different services on Wording Well, including writing/blogging, and editing. She also helps others become published authors! She helps bloggers too, so don’t forget to pick up your FREE copy of 20 Blog Post Must-Haves today!