The Benefits of Failure: Why you must FAIL to SUCCEED.
Yesterday, I was outside playing soccer with my 5 year old son Pablo.
Not only is Pablo named after me, but he is basically my little clone.
He looks like me, talks like me, has my expressions, and feels his emotions like me.
As we were playing, it occurred to me that I usually let Pablo win. I wondered “How he will take loosing?”, so I started to score some goals. Pablo’s little demeanor went from fun to frustration. In a fit of tears, buggers, fury, and moans he started kicking the ball not even close to the goal.
Failure was getting the best of him.
I called off the game early, and told him to calm down and then we could try again.
I have noticed that many people (including myself many times) don’t take failure well. We see failure as the end result of our efforts, or worse, we see it as the definition of our character. We start telling ourselves “I am a looser.”
What would happen if we changed the way we saw failure? What would happen if we taught our students to do the same?
By simply teaching students this one principle, we could completely alter the course of their lives.
“Success is forged through failure.”
That’s it. Done with blog post. Have a great day!
Just kidding. Failure is obviously more complicated than that. Let’s take a further look at the benefits of failure.
The only path to success is through failure.
Failure is simply a step toward success. As you’re chasing your dreams, you’re really chasing failures. Everyone who has ever been successful in their life has failed their way to the top. So as long as you’re pursuing failure, you know that you’re going in the right direction. In our “viral video” culture, we often see the split second successes of people doing amazing things. We start to believe the lie that they were born with that talent. Although many people are born with natural advantages or tendencies, we don’t take into account that the one moment was the culmination of hours, days, or years of preparation. That preparation was made from countless attempts and failures.
If you aren’t failing you are not aiming correctly.
You need to be aiming at something rather than nothing. If you aim at nothing, you are not succeeding or failing. You are simply being. There is no end goal in mind, and that is a life poorly lived.
Then there is another alternative. Maybe you are aiming at something and succeeding. If you aren’t failing, maybe you are not aiming at your full potential. You want to be aiming high enough so that there is risk of failure. Now that doesn’t mean aim at the impossible, or even the highly improbable. What it means is that you need to be aiming at things that are high standards for you, that will push you to excellence. Failure is your gauge that you are aiming correctly.
The greater the fail, the better the benefits.
Failing just to fail isn’t worth anything. For example, if I went out today and attempted a marathon, I would fail (and probably puke) and that fail would be worthless. I would simply feel sore and embarrassed.
Here is an equation for you:
Value of a fail = time invested X effort invested X preparation invested
If I trained for a marathon for 5 months and failed, then that would be a failure worth having. The preparation that I put into that fail would not only make me more of an athlete, but would also set me up for success the next time a tried.
It is only a complete failure if you give up.
If I keep trying, I haven’t really failed. Every time I train and try again, I am closer to success. It is only a compete failure if I give up. Consider failure one step of the larger journey.
Let’s play it out:
Let’s take those principles and apply them to my son Pablo. Let’s imagine Pablo doesn’t give up on soccer. We go out again today and play. Let’s imagine that when I start winning, he keeps attacking the ball. Let’s imagine he makes it his goal to beat his old man. He might not beat me today, but if he keeps trying and training, in a few years, I am sure that he will kick my butt. Not only that, but he will probably be able to beat other kids his age.
One final note. Overcoming failure is a mindset that spreads to all areas of your life. If you learn to embrace failure in one area, chances are that you will live those principles out in other areas as well.
Next post I’ll discuss how to train our students to embrace failure. Until then, happy failing!
The article today was taken from reading and research that I do on a regular basis. Today’s article was inspired by a video my sister shared with my called “Chasing Failure” by Ryan Leak. It is well worth 15 minutes of your time!
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If you are breathing, you are an educator.
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