Failure: The Great Teacher

“Failure is inevitable. What you can learn from it, the resiliency you can build from experiencing it, and what you can apply to your life moving forwards, having overcome it, is invaluable.” Man With a Plan

Failure just means you haven’t accomplished your goal YET. Failure is a temporary state, your successes and triumphs in life, are eternal. You passed the BAR exam to get into law school or tried out and made the varsity football ball team at your high school. No one can take those accomplishments away from you. What you do as a student of law, or cornerback on a small but scrappy defensive unit, is entirely up to you after that. On the contrary, if you did not pass the Bar exam, or did not make the team, you could look at those failures as an end of the road scenario, a dream crushing blow, a sign the universe has other plans for you. Ultimately, it’s what you truly want in life that dictates how you view failures and setbacks. If you stopped trying to get into law school after one failed attempt at the BAR, then you did not truly want to become a lawyer in the first place.

“Your setback is just a setup for your comeback.” – Steve Harvey

From time to time, life will remind you that not everything goes as planned as Mike Tyson famously coined with the phrase “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” To double down on the boxing references meant to inspire your success, below is a link to a speech that the legendary, fictional boxer, Rocky Balboa, shares with his son about life’s hard-hitting punches and how to handle them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyYDz_A6HO8, from the “Official Rocky Balboa” YouTube Channel.

NOW, if you have stuck with me through my previous posts, and the “FROM WOLF to ALPHA” process up to this point, you will find that I truly believe that your perspective in life, dictates the quality of your life. Any failure or disappointment can be viewed from a positive perspective, if you choose to see it that way. For example, you drive by a frozen, snow-covered lake on your way home from work and notice some people ice fishing. You have been looking for a new hobby, so you decide to buy all the necessary equipment, invite a few of your buddies and set out onto the lake to catch a record setting bass. After hours of hovering over your carefully cut holes, you have nothing but numb toes and frozen bait to show for your efforts. You depart before nightfall, failing to set any records, and a with a newly devised plan to sell your gear on eBay. Now take a moment, and think about the experience, and the positives you could draw from it. You spent time with your buddies, whom you have not seen for over a month because life is busy. Despite not catching anything but a cold, you enjoyed the conversation, the laughs, and you effectively utilized the auger to drill the holes and set your lines which is no small task.

If you chose to look into why you failed to catch anything, you could perhaps learn how to have more success the next time you head out into the great outdoors. Let’s assume you chose the righteous path and refused to accept defeat. Now, at home and with a bit of research, you learned that you were using the wrong type of bait for the fish you were aiming to catch. Pair this newly found knowledge with a days’ worth experience under your belt, and you can be assured that your next trip out onto the ice will likely yield better results. Another thing to consider is what your goal was to begin with when starting your new hobby. Was it to become a master ice fisherman, putting food on the table for your family, or just an activity and excuse to spend time with your friends, and experience something exciting and new?

Below is the activity for this part of the “From WOLF to ALPHA” process, entitled, “Failure: A lesson in disguise.” I hope it helps you to understand the positive role that failure can play in your life if you allow it to.

It is through our failures, and losses in life, that we truly learn the most about our character, and what we are made of. I hope you have enjoyed the content and activities thus far. We have concluded identifying the WOLF in all of us, and next, embark on our journey to becoming an ALPHA. My next post will be about accountability, and its importance in determining what we are able to accomplish in our lives, not just in fleeting moments, but THROUGHOUT our lives through a commitment to self-improvement and discovery.

Please share a story of yours below, where you overcame adversity, turned a failure into a success, to help inspire others.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Man With a Plan