We learn more about ourselves when things don’t work out than when they do.
Please discuss. How does this play out in life?
I’ll start us out. Our society is focused on performance. We believe we create value by making things happen. In the business world, where there are quotas, annual goals and incentives. Education comes with grades, ways of ranking our ability to demonstrate what we’ve learned. Our entertainment often involves competition, where only one team or individual can succeed. We’re all about the win.
One of the often cited factors in achieving goals is experience, knowing what to do. This teaches us how to repeat desirable results. To learn to expand our possibilities, we need to fail. When we don’t hit our target, we’re pushed to step back, assess, get creative, and try again. Circumstances press us to learn, providing the opportunity to succeed in new ways.
Today’s message reminds me to mine my failures for personal gold. When I review the part of a failed situation that I could control—my own thoughts, beliefs, and actions—I focus on how I might have different results in the future. Going a level deeper to understand the underlying, and perhaps subconscious, reasons for my behavior and choices can free me to have a better outcome. Willingness to learn from failures unlocks my ability to succeed.
How about you? How do you handle failure?