5 good things that can come from failure

by Startacus Admin

Failure is not the opposite of success but part of it - So says the Fail Forward team, who highlight to Startacus 5 good things that can come from failure...

There’s one word which strikes fear into the hearts of people: fail. It can come in the form of ‘’I’m going to fail my exam!’’ or even under the guise of ‘’I’m going to lose!’’ but failure is something we all fear. However, failure will inevitably happen to us in our lives, more than once and it is something we have to try and embrace rather than fear. Here’s why:

It’s how you grow/improve/learn/build character

Imagine if when we were babies we simply did not bother to learn to walk after we fell down after we took that first step. There would be a world full of adults crawling around on the floor; the human race would regress! Even getting back up as an infant and attempting to walk again and again even though we kept falling down is character building as it shows the importance of perseverance. This is something we need to keep in mind when we experience failure: it builds character. Remember, when starting a business that 8/10 fail, so that is a lot of people who do not get it right the first time, but that does not mean you should not try again.

If you could achieve everything you wanted effortlessly on the first attempt, life would be boring

We all imagine that life would be perfect if we just got what we wanted and we did not have to work for it. Imagine if we could just start up a business and it be a great success with no effort from ourselves. If there were not any bumps in the road, and no downs as well as ups then life would be a flatline, and a flatline usually means you are dead.  When we are in the midst of experiencing failure we fail to recognise that failure is a reminder that we are alive; it not only makes the happier times sweeter but also reminds us that we are striving for something and that drive to achieve is a part of being alive.

Let's you see your critical flaws.

We all have flaws: even Beyonce (she wears fur). One of the reasons we don’t like failure is because it makes us aware of our own flaws. Whether it is because we were not as dedicated to our revision as we should have been or because we didn’t prepare for that interview as well as we could have done, failure is a reminder that we are not perfect. However, the plus side to failure is that it allows us to examine our flaws and see how we can improve ourselves and avoid failure next time. This is something we can apply to business ventures; we can examine ourselves and see where we went wrong. Did we disregard advice from those with more experience than us? Or did we allow other people to take the lead too much? Failure gives us a unique chance to work on our flaws.

Makes you want to study other peoples failures.

Steve Jobs was arguably one of the most successful business men of his generation, but back in the 1980s he was actually fire from Apple. Yet Jobs actually said that him being fired was one of the best things to happen to him because ’’It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life’’. Jobs took his failure and then worked it to his advantage which is something we all need to learn to do. Looking at successful people and seeing how even they still experience failure is a good way not to only reassure yourself that failure is natural, but also allows you to see how they overcome failure.

Forces you how to positively use negative emotions.

When I experience failure, one of the first things I do is lock myself away in my room and refuse to speak to anybody whilst listening to sad songs. This process usually lasts a couple of days, and then something (possibly hunger) makes me unlock my door and face the world again. Nobody likes failure, but one of the benefits in failing is learning how to challenge all those negative emotions into something more positive. After all, you can only lock yourself away for so long before people start putting up Missing posters of you. Failure encourages you take the negative feelings you are experiencing and use them as fuel to succeed next time.

Failure Day

On the 15^th of March 2014, Fail Forward will host its first Failure Day event at Loughborough Students’ Union, with support from NACUE, showing examples of failure within start-ups, sport and music.

Over 100 participants will be attending to listen to a wide range of speakers discussing their own failures, lessons and their ultimate successes. There will also be the opportunity to take part in practical workshops, and see examples of the latest technology.

Tickets will be on sale, and can be purchased through our website www.failforward.co. Early bird price is £10.

Join Startacus - the Self Start Society! 

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Published on: 23rd February 2014