Recently, a conversation changed my entire perspective on ‘failure’ for the better.
It was a conversation about ‘failure’ in the context of burnout. It’s fascinating how failure can show up in so many different areas of life—from work to family, from communication to crisis management…
So, how do we handle our failures? There are a couple of ways we can approach it.
One way is: replay mode. We keep replaying the moment we messed up, obsessing over what we should have done differently. What if we had made different choices? What if we had acted sooner? We can get trapped in this “what if” loop, and as a result, our self-confidence takes a hit, leading to negative thought cycles that keep us stuck.
The other path is: acceptance mode. We ‘simply’ accept that we’ve made a mis-take, even failed in some way, and recognize that this is part of being human. That’s when new possibilities open up. Instead of criticizing ourselves and staying stuck, we move forward. New pathways emerge, for example:
What if we embraced failure as part of life? What if we acknowledged that we are just as valuable after a failure moment as we were before it?
That’s what brings us to a third path to approach failures: gratitude mode. It’s when we not just accept but even embrace them, realizing that those very failures can offer us invaluable insights that are part of our personal journey of growth that we might have missed otherwise.
Every time we not only accept a failure but embrace it and learn from it, we are essentially training our “failure muscle”. Much like working out in the gym, it’s tough at first and may even leave us with some soreness. But the more we do it, the easier it gets, until it becomes a part of our routine. The more we view failure as a workout, the quicker we bounce back.
Of course, this doesn’t mean we should purposely fail or expect failure.
We will continue to do our best, but by understanding that failure ultimately strengthens usm instead of weakening us,, a whole new world opens up.
A world where the pressure to always perform “perfectly” — which is impossible anyway — and the constant fear of failing, starts to fade away. And when that pressure lifts, we create space in our mind and life for creativity, experimentation, and maybe even higher levels of performance…
So, how about you? How do you see failure? Is it a setback, or could it be your next step forward? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Wishing you a successful (and if you do fail, gracefully and gratefully doing so) rest of your day!
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