Failure, errors, and delays are seeds for increase.

Someone once defined the acronym F-A-I-l as: First Attempt In Learning. Alluding to the way we usually handle failure. It is no longer secret that the worst fear of organizations, societies, and individuals is often failure. People are afraid to start new projects, or just commit to anything new because they are afraid they make mistakes, be criticized, or fail altogether. But what if failures, errors, even delays were major in the growth process? Albert Einstein said: « Failure is success in progress ».

Researches show that one of the most important reasons why established companies struggle to grow is fear of failure, and this applies to individuals around us and even ourselves. However, it is important for us to understand that they are an inevitable consequence of doing something new and must be seen as valuable. 

Unless we decide to live in the statuquo we will face challenges, make mistakes, and experience failure. It is beneficial for us this year to embrace failure. This year we want to continue having an attitude that will help us increase effectively.

Learn from Every Failure

This year I advise you to do this personal exercise : 

Reflect on projects or initiatives that disappointed you; projects that failed; projects where the result was not as expected; projects with delayed results. This exercise is important but will not please the flesh because reviewing past errors is painful. It brings back strong emotions, shame, and can even attack our self- esteem. Most of us would prefer to invest our time looking forward, not back. But, this exercise is necessary for our growth. Reflecting on failures of the past is critical to avoid doing the things that contributed to our fall. When something doesn’t go as planned, it’s a great opportunity to challenge your default beliefs and adjust accordingly. Maybe there is one thing you did not do correctly that you need to adjust to prepare your future success. Remember what Einstein said about failure.

Draw the Lessons

While it’s useful to reflect on individual failures, the real payoff comes when you draw the lessons from your past error. The purpose for which you reflect is to pull a lesson that will serve you in the future. Review Your Pattern of Failure and identify how they are helping you improve your strategy and execution. 

Acknowledge that Failure is the heart of  major changes

Failure can be viewed from two different angles. Depending on how you receive failure you either benefit from it or become downtrodden by it. I have seen so many people lose it completely because they failed once. They fell in despair and could not grow. However, Failure can be an agent of good change, an agent of exponential growth. Maturity is also acceptance of failure sometimes. 

It’s easy to become downtrodden and lose motivation when things don’t go as planned, but if you use failure as a mechanism to reset your perspective of things, to change your ways, and to take a new direction you will be a more fulfilled individual.  It is time to make a mental change or embark on a new, much-needed direction.

Failure is necessary to shake things up. Otherwise, we would coast along comfortably but we wouldn’t make any progress.

Failure keeps your ego in check.

It is very easy to have a big head and develop pride when everything always goes as planned. Remaining down to earth and honest is a challenge in today’s world. When you go from one success to another successes without any ick you can develop a bad attitude. Sometimes one error here and one failure there is critical for our ego.

Failure humbles us when we so desperately need to be humbled. It helps us remember where we came from and keeps us in check. Failure helps us to remember to trust in God and not just in our own abilities.

When you find yourself in this situation know that you are not the first nor the last to experience defeat or disappointment. 

Lazarus was dead, yet God showed up! There is no condition God cannot show up! Don’t let the devil lie to you that you are a failure because you failed multiple times. If God can intervene in death how much more would he do to help you in this dissatisfaction. There is no hopelessness in God! With God all things are possible, testimonies are possible, miracle is possible, breakthrough is possible, success is possible. Disappointment is only for a while then there is settlement and establishment. 1 peter: 5:10