Failure. Not a very positive thought is it? Or is it? Failure is not necessarily a bad thing. There is a Japanese proverb that states, “Fall down seven times, stand up eight times”. It can also be said that if you haven’t failed you have not tried hard enough. Let me give you some examples of “good” failure.
Let’s begin with fitness. Most of us have heard of training to failure. It can be defined as repeating an exercise to the point where another repetition is no longer possible. Take the most basic exercise everyone knows, the bench press. Your goal is to complete 6-10 repetitions for 4 sets. You start off with a weight where ten repetitions can be performed. For the next set the weight is increased and maybe you can perform eight repetitions. You again add more weight and at the seventh rep you can no longer complete the full movement and must rack the weight. For the fourth and final set you are able to complete six reps and you reach failure and with the assistance of a spotter you rack the weight. For optimum muscle growth the muscle must be exercised to the point of near exhaustion for growth. Microscopic tearing of the muscle occurs (this is a good thing) and with adequate rest and nutrition, the muscle “repairs” itself, although this time bigger and/or stronger. That is the basic premise of building muscle. In this case failure is a great thing.
Another example of “good” failure is anyone who is a parent. We have all seen a child struggle with a certain task be it an activity, homework or even a game. Although as a parent watching your child struggle or fail can be painful it is necessary for the intellectual or physical growth of the child. Parents who step in and say “let me help” really are not helping at all in the long run. The child will learn to depend on someone else to help them or make their struggles go away. There are times in life when things get difficult and what better time to learn how to deal with daily struggles than when you are a child and the struggles are relatively minor. A child who is taught to struggle and quite possibly fail will learn quickly how to overcome those struggles and failures through determination and practice. A parent must act as their “spotter” and offer encouragement and a “safety net” should the need arise to avoid injury or major trauma. This type of failure is paramount for development of a healthy individual.
We experience failures in our everyday life as adults. Take one of the most rewarding yet sometimes difficult professions such as a salesperson. It doesn’t much matter what you sell, you will not close 100% of the sales you encounter. You will make your presentations and feel you gave it everything you had. You offered all the benefits, all of the features and all of the value your product will offer to your customer. You will still be faced with a customer that says no. You have failed in your attempt at selling that customer your product. You begin to ask yourself if your product wasn’t a match to their needs, or was the price too high, or was it your presentation style. Is a “no” the end of it? NO! How many “no’s” does it take to receive a yes? You don’t know unless you continue to try. So you refine your presentation, maybe alter your price or product offering and you try it again. You continue to try until the no turns into a yes. Failure in the first attempt made you go back and re-evaluate, regroup and try again. Had it not been for the failure you would not have had the opportunity to better yourself as a salesperson for the next presentation.
So is failure a bad thing? No it is not. Without failure we do not know real success or growth. You can actually learn more from failure than success. Failure builds the character needed to truly enjoy your success in life. So go out, do whatever it takes and don’t be afraid to fail now and then. It will make the success you experience that much greater.