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When something doesn’t go your way, what’s the first thought that pops into your head? Do you chastise yourself? Or do you reassure yourself that you are growing stronger and wiser with each challenge you face?
In reality, it’s not just the successes that make you a stronger, more successful person; it’s the failures as well.
You may be thinking “Yeah, fine for you to say, you just didn’t experience what I did.” Take a breath and let’s think this through. Failure is defined as “the omission of expected or required action” With that definition, I will admit, I fail regularly. However, behind my failure, I have a wonderful opportunity to:
Make an evaluation
Find new inspiration
Determine improvements
Identify what I learned
Focus on what did go well
Gain support/encouragement from others
Be honest with myself
Set new goals
This may sound a little strange, but I want you to start believing each failure you have is actually a success.
Let’s take a look at a couple of the world’s greatest failures that lead to the some of the most global inventions of our time.
Did you know that 3M’s greatest failure was inventing glue that won’t stick? That glue became the basis for the sticky backing on the “Post-It Note.”
The scientists at Pfizer were trying to create a medication that treated high blood pressure in men. It failed to affect blood pressure, but it had one unexpected side effect. We now know this drug as Viagra and it’s considered one of the most successful failures ever.
We also have to keep in mind, most of us tend to determine what success is based on other’s opinions and not our own. We are inundated by the television, newspaper, magazines, social media and biased conversations that have a slant on their view of success and failures
Some of us have been brainwashed to think the number of followers on social media is a direct correlation to how successful you are in your career or socially. 500 likes on Facebook can make some feel great about themselves, while 5 likes could make them feel like a failure.
Often, others capitalize on our desire to look successful; you can purchase followers or reviews to improve how you appear in cyberspace. In the end though, nothing really changed. One of the BEST things we need to do is quit processing our value and success through the lens of others.
You Should Appreciate Your Successes More After You’ve Failed
Thomas Edison had an incredibly positive attitude about failure. When he was questioned as to why so many of his experiments were failures, he responded by saying that he never had a failure in any of his experiments, rather, each experiment helped him discover another way that something would not work. In reality, sometimes the only way to know whether you’ve succeeded is to fail.
Start examining what you see as FAILURES in your life and discover the success in the midst of them!!!!
Jan Davidson
Growing Through My Grief
Recovery | Wellness | Life Coaching
Website: www.jandavidson.org
Email: jan@jandavidson.org
Phone: 317.647.6645