It’s International Day of Failure.
Did you catch that?
International!
We could change it to global.
EVERYONE makes mistakes and those mistakes can lead us to feel like a failure.
Why, if everyone makes mistakes do we jump to failure?
As a professional psychologist, can I tell you that you are never wrong about how you feel?
How you feel is 100% consistent with how you think.
Feelings are a natural consequence of our thought patterns.
Our thoughts lead to our feelings and that should give you a hint on where to start overcoming the feelings of failure.
We think of success as attaining or arriving at a goal. Failure is not the opposite of success, it is part of it.
Dr. John Maxwell wrote a book called, “Failing Forward.” I love that title. Does it change how you feel about failing?
Robert Kiyosaki wrote, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” He said, “If you want to succeed, start failing faster.”
Look forward to failing? YES!
Thomas Edison was accused of having failed thousands of times in creating an electric light bulb. His response was, “I didn’t fail. I’ve identified successfully thousands of ways that this doesn’t work.” It is part of the success.
Michael Jordan, the basketball legend said, “I have failed over and over and over in my career and that is why I succeed.”
If we begin to see failure as success, then our feelings change.
Failures aren’t reasons to give up, to throw in the towel.
Failure is a part of success. It’s not your name. It’s not how you define yourself.
Failures are progress on the road to our success.
Let me speak to something that has gotten me fired in the past. Pride. You are not a special case. You are just as qualified as anybody else to fail.
The only way to fail is not to try.
Is that where you want to be? Not even in the game? On the sidelines watching others play?
I think it was Wayne Gretzky who said you will miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Get in the game.
Take some shots.
Don’t allow your past failures to convince you that you are a failure.
You are not. You are courageous.
Dr. Paul