Maximizing on Failure
Rudolf N. Nsang
Just like the righteous fall seven times and rise again, the tough and ambitious fail, fail, and fail again to succeed again. There is no point in falling and not desiring or working to rise again. It is crazy — the craziest thing any wise person can do. I recently wrote an article, Maximizing on Opportunities, and just a day after I published it on www.medium.com, a friend of mine proposed that I also write something about maximizing on failure. Of course, if we must take advantage of opportunities, we must also take advantage of failures. How and why we do so is what matters.
Failure in itself
Are you leaving in fear and fury because of a setback that took so much from you?
Well, you are not alone. Many of us have been there, and some of us are still there. I understand you perfectly and will not rebuke you for having fallen and refused to rise again. But you need to do something about your situation because failure is not God’s desire for you.
Many people are in this village of fear, fury, and frustration. This village is a summary of what failure is. It may be a setback in business, education, or relationships. You may have messed up at your job site, and a dismissal letter followed. Or, again, your plans are kind of failing because things didn’t fall into place as planned. Well, just like there are millions of ways to win, there are also millions of ways to fail. Whether or not you have failed can best be determined by you. My concern in this article is to show you how to rise again by making good use of your failure experiences. I came up with a few points you can use to come out of a mess victoriously.
Opportunities to Become Better
Failure is one of the best experiences to learn from. No one can be said to be a failure unless that person refuses to try again. In fact, you are a real failure and a foolish one if you refuse to learn and strive to rise again. Walt Disney was said to have lacked imagination and had no good ideas. After starting his first animation company in Kansas City in 1921, he soon ran out of money and was forced to shut down his company because he could not afford his rent. Yet, in 1923, he and his brother started the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Los Angeles, California, which later blew up into a billion-dollar company. Which kid on earth hasn’t consumed a Disney product? whereas Disney is a product of courage after a series of failures.
First things first!
- Your failure is your failure. No one cares except those who benefit from your successes.
- The majority of people around you (friends, colleagues, and family included) are more comfortable when you’re failing. Of course, they are likely to be threatened by your success.
- “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come”, as the Bible puts it. (Luke 17:1a)
- Just as success affects the people around us positively, our failure affects the people around us.
- You choose to rise again. No one will help you.
So, what are you waiting for? Get up and start moving from what’s wrong to what’s strong. Tough people are those who are always willing to succeed in their challenges. Are you one, or do you want to be one? Let’s move on to learn how.
- Reflect, plan, and research.
Reflect and brainstorm until something happens. What were the root causes of your failure? Did you invest in the wrong business or, perhaps, in the wrong people? Did you overspend and can’t track your expenditures? Maybe you did not have a good strategic plan that allowed you to do one thing at a time. In fact, dig deep to know what loopholes caused you to stumble and how to avoid them the next time you embark.
Once you have a list of your weaknesses, make a strategic plan on how to improve yourself. This plan could extend over six months or three years. Three years is good enough for someone to change, but your case may be different and require even more time. Learn to use www.google.com if you do not want to talk about those weaknesses with your network. Search for what to do until you discover what to do. Read about other people’s experiences and how they leaped out of their mess. You will surely find the motivation to rise again.
- Analyze and filter your network.
As they say, your network is your net worth. This network does not only involve friends and professional colleagues. It also involves your family members. Some of them need to be avoided. Make a SWOT analysis of everyone around you. If what you’re gaining from them is less than what you’re losing, then avoid them. Stop informing them of your next steps. Well, sometimes, some toxic people have something we need in order to take the next giant step in life. So, you may be losing a lot being around them, but you tarry just because there is one pivotal benefit you need from them. Think about how tough mathematics is and how nervy some mathematics teachers are. But also think about how useful the subject is to someone who wants to earn millions of dollars as an AI engineer. The bridge between that person and his dream is having good grades in mathematics, no matter how painful and stressful it will be.
Select the people you want to share your worries with. Select those to share your plans with. We only have problems with people who know us very well. In fact, if you don’t know somebody, it is hard to get into trouble with that person. So, avoid problems by limiting the number of people you share your life with, especially if they contribute nothing to your current life.
I am not saying you should become some sort of social hermit or introvert. You can always share with those who have a history of pushing you when you’re falling — those who don’t always ask but give to you; those who are never threatened by your success but celebrate with you in times of joy and cry with you in times of sadness.
- Build on your weaknesses.
As a young person, you should first learn to identify your weak points. You may be the kind of guy who’s very bad at public speaking or the little guy who gets so nervous at high-profile events. All you need to do first is make a list of those delimiting points. How do you identify them? You should observe yourself when you are in the midst of people, vis-à-vis the people you admire. Do you flow in conversation? Do you look attractive? Are you able to connect with the people you admire? Do you create a positive influence or leave a great impression on people you meet? Are you often intimidated by high-profile people? …etc. These are some questions you can ask yourself as you observe. Your weakness could be the fact that you do not earn enough money. Of course, this is a major setback for positive influence. If this is one of your problems, see how to always plan well around your finances.
Most often, what matters is not how much you earn but how organized and disciplined you are with the little you have. When I was a teacher at Baptist High School Awae, Yaoundé, I had a colleague who didn’t earn as much as most of us teachers, but we always ran to her to get loans. Mme. Charlotte is still the librarian at that school, and her life is still teaching me a lot about money management. So, not earning enough is no excuse. You can still be better than your peers if you manage well. Spend frugally by buying quality, dressing responsibly and not fancifully, planning your expenditures, and tracking all expenses you make.
- Empower yourself.
If you think you do not have the body type that gives you confidence, consider registering at a local gym where you will be consistent. Or again, consider putting yourself on a particular diet that would make you lose weight or gain it. Just do something about your condition, because no one will help you with that.
Consistency in the new regimen will help you a great deal in getting the desired effect. While change takes time, consistency is the assurance of success.
Consider taking an online course to get better at your skill. There are hundreds of free courses online that you can take. Just google it! While taking such courses, your focus should be on gaining knowledge and not on earning a certificate to post on your Facebook timeline for people to see. You are foolish if you do this. Some people do not even need to take any courses in order to speak well or behave in a way that people appreciate. So, study to know and not to show.
Final Words
“Any man yi head, na yi neck carry’am”, a popular pidgin proverb says. Whether or not you fail or succeed is your problem. You have the greatest say when it comes to your own life. Choices are given to men, and I invite you to choose success. The way to it also includes failure. Cross those bridges of failure with courage and determination, and join success on the other side of the river.
However, every human being has a breaking point. Some people fall to never rise again. But, in my opinion, it is 99.9% a choice to stay in the valley or move up the mountain. With a strong desire, proper planning, hard work, unflinching resilience, and unquenchable faith in God, you will rise again.
