Everybody wants to succeed and nobody wants to fail. It is a fact that failure is an integral part of life. Additionally, it is essential to fail in life to grow as a meaningful individual and mindful leader. Hence, we will discuss failure in this regard.

Importance of failures in Life

When you want to be successful, listen to failure stories, not success stories because failures teach many things to people. They alert you to take appropriate precautions to improve and succeed. When you fail, you understand who are your true friends and who are your true relatives. You filter unwanted relatives and friends. 

You understand the ground realities. You eliminate your ego. You become humble. You begin to empathize with others. You respect people. You understand your true worth. Above all, you understand who are your true friends and relatives.

Success doesn’t come on a platter. People often comment about successful people that it is due to their sheer luck they achieved success which is not correct. Everyone has a story to tell about their struggles. 

Steve Jobs was not good at academics and Steven Spielberg was rejected from the University of Southern California School of Theatre, Film, and Television… three times. But he excelled as one of the best directors in the world. 

It is because he learned lessons from rejections and failures and improved himself.

“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough” — Elon Musk 

Perception towards failures

Don’t perceive failures negatively. Instead, view them as learning lessons. Thomas Edison perceived failures positively when he failed several times while inventing the light bulb as follows: “I have not failed 10,000 times—I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”

When encountered with repeated rejections, be prepared to work harder to succeed instead of brooding over frequent failures. Everyone encountered failures and most people don’t understand how much pain and effort the successful people have taken to come up to such a level. 

I sent my book proposals to many publishers. Unfortunately, most of them were rejected. I was mentally prepared for rejections but one positive response from the publisher ensured the publication of my book successfully. 

When you look at J. K. Rowling, her manuscript was rejected many times but she never gave up hope. She kept trying to achieve and finally became the bestselling author in the world.

Be resilient

When people fail, they scapegoat others. They blame their friends and relatives. They blame technology. They ascribe their failures due to a lack of contacts, money, the right team, and their leaders. They also ascribe their failures due to a lack of resources. 

They must be creative to create resources. They must appreciate that their passion, time, integrity, and creativity are their resources. They must analyze their mistakes to avoid repeating them next time and learn lessons. 

They must take feedback regularly to understand the reasons for their failures to overcome them. They must take inventory of their strengths and leverage them. They must shift from their fixed mindset to a growth mindset. 

Every person is unique in this world. To stand out from others, you must be creative to build your brand. You must stand out from others by reinventing regularly. You must stay ahead of your time and technologies. 

Failure is only a comma, not a full stop

Write a failure resume to list out failures in your life and how you overcome your failures successfully. List the takeaways from your failures to excel as a mindful leader. Remember that failure is only a comma, not a full stop. 

Accept the realities of life and be prepared for failures and learn lessons to grow as an effective individual and leader.