Failure Does Not Exist!
Most of us lead our lives with a major fear: the fear of failure. Have you ever found yourself facing this fear? Let us be truthful; the fact remains that no one ever wants to fail in any endeavour. Our society puts such a premium on success that any setback makes us feel ineffective, weak, or lacking in some way. However, the real truth is that ‘failure’ is something that has no existence, until you say that it has.
Look up any dictionary. You will find several definitions of failure there. These are:
• A failing to do or perform
• A state of inability to perform a normal action adequately
• A fracturing or giving way under stress
• A lack of success
Please examine all these definitions carefully. What do you find common in all these definitions? These clearly state that when it comes to achieving a goal, failure is nothing but a perception.
If you believe that you have failed, then you have. If you believe that you can’t succeed, you can’t. If you believe that you can’t possibly handle the pressure of achieving your goals, you can’t. If you believe that you are not successful, you aren’t. Failure has no existence beyond your mind. The moment you decide to stop working towards your goals, failure is born.
What would happen if you do not believe in any of that? What would happen if you carry on working towards your goals? What if you take one step at a time for as long as it takes? What happens to failure then? It no longer exists, does it? So there you are. Now do you agree with me?
If you have been working diligently, but not yet seeing any results; keep this simple statement in mind: ‘Failure has no existence”. Just keep going and you can never fail; because there is no such thing as failure for you.
Never count yourself out. Many a times, people give up without ever realizing it. Don’t stop when the going gets tough. Don’t let your motivation dwindle. Make a commitment to yourself, to make your goals happen. Never ever quit. Do not ever contemplate failure. Do not lose your inner determination.
Thomas Alva Edison’s words ring so true to this day, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” And he should know what he was talking about!
Let me share Edison’s life history with you. He had only three months of formal schooling, and he was partially deaf. He ‘failed’ approximately ten thousand times while working on the light bulb. At the age of 67, his factory caught fire. While watching the smoke Edison remarked, “God has erased all my mistakes”. Three weeks later he invented phonograph. In fact, he was the greatest inventor of all times. He knew that failure has no existence. Follow Edison’s example and get going.
Set a general timeline for achieving your goals but do not get hooked on to a specific timeframe. Some circumstances always remain beyond your control; hence you can’t always be sure ‘when’ your goal will be achieved. If you get attached to a particular timeframe, you are setting yourself up for failure. It is better to get a general idea about by when you would like to see your goal accomplished. Take it one day at a time. Focus on making progress everyday. You will eventually reach the finish line. Don’t think of taking shortcuts; they don’t work.
Don’t ever view obstacles and setbacks as failures, because they are not. In fact, they have nothing in common with failure. The two are as different as chalk is from cheese. Whenever you face an obstacle, setback, or delay, it can mean only one thing; the time has not yet come for your goal to be completed. That is all! It does not mean that you have failed. It does not mean that you are weak. It does not also mean that you will never achieve your goals. It just means that you are not through as yet. You have got to keep moving ahead, finding a way around an obstacle.
Doing an honest, personal SWOT analysis helps in maintaining the morale during tough times; especially if you link it to a strong and powerful goal! It is easy to conduct your own SWOT analysis. Take a sheet of paper and divide it into four quadrants. Label each area as S, W, O, T. Look at each area and write down the answers to following questions:
Strengths:
• What skills and capabilities do you possess?
• Which areas do you excel in?
• What qualifications, accreditations, or experience make you unique?
• What do other people consider as your strengths?
• Which personal qualities, values and beliefs help you stand out amongst others?
Weaknesses:
• What are the gaps in your capabilities?
• What skills do you need to develop?
• Which areas of your life can you improve upon?
• What do other people see as your weaknesses?
• Which personal difficulties do you need to work through to reach your goals?
• What opportunities are currently available to you?
• What external circumstances can help you achieve your goals?
• Which people could offer you support in achieving your goals?
Threats:
• What obstacles are you currently facing?
• What external circumstances can hinder your growth?
• Which people could get into the way of your achieving your goals?
Such an analysis will clearly help you to understand that you possibly cannot fail, unless you decide to fail. This analysis will help you highlight the aspects of your growth story that you may not have ever considered. This will provide you with a different perspective on your personality.
So, go ahead, review your strengths, and consider ways to address your weaknesses. Develop your skills and capabilities. Review your opportunities and use them to your advantage. Think of ways to minimize or eliminate your threats. Such actions are a one way ticket to success. Failure has no role to play here, as it just does not exist. All that exists and always did are opportunities and challenges!
Let go of your false beliefs and expect success!
You will like these as well!
|
Featured Tickles  Here Is Your D-I-Y Kit For A Leading Edge LifeManagement gurus and their disciples, thinkers, strategists and business process re-engineers have been busy propelling the modern world into not only coping with, but also keeping in step with the rapid changes of an ever shrinking, increasingly competitive and exhaustingly demanding global market. I Wish I Were A GoldfishI am told that a goldfish cannot remember anything beyond a 3 minute time frame. One of my favorite pastimes is to sit and watch our goldfish swim around lazily and rising up only to gobble at the food before going back to their contented existence. Their swimming around actually reminds me of chil The Fine Art of Persuasive Communication!There are many areas to look at in communication: a message is communicated through visual, vocal and verbal means. From that, comes the importance of body language, how we present ourselves, and so on. The visual and vocal elements are indeed very important to effective communication, but we will Teaching the teacherThe arbiter of knowledge and skills, the teacher, is a revered figure around the world. In India, the teacher is known as the guru, the wise one who can be trusted to lead the knowledge-blind and shine the light of competence and skills in the darkness of ignorance and incompetence. Over time it ha My 5 rules for life1. There are no rules. Structures, how-to's, dogma, principles...all disciplines and theories should be used to support your freedom and independent thinking. Curiosity is exponentially more powerful than playing by the rules. 2. Say thank you. Gratitude is one of the most creative and noble forc How To Nurture A Successful RelationshipHave you ever wondered how certain couples were able to stay together for many years? What are they doing right? What are the factors that contribute to the success of healthy, long term relationships? There are a few fundamental components that will improve your chances of having a successful relat Waves Of InspirationI stay in the coastal city of Chennai and one of my favorite pastimes is to explore the coastline that borders one side of the city. Starting from the crowded marina and Eliot’s Beach to the less crowded and secluded ones that dot the East Coast Road (or ECR as it is called), I have always found How To Be Depressed"Depression was, indeed, the hand of a friend trying to press me down to the ground on which it was safe to stand--the ground of my own truth, my own nature with its complex mix of limits and gifts, liabilities and assets, darkness and light." Parker Palmer I've never been through pregnancy depress Make an ass of yourself but do not let the world know...Many a time we are swept by that overwhelming feeling to bare all. Not to be mistaken with confession which is done after ensuring that there is nothing further to lose on account of reputation. I am referring to pure tear jerker stuff. Born out of righteous indignation. Or plain stupidity. The form Time management with the monksOne mile south of Georgia O'Keefe's beloved Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, thirteen miles down a cliff-hugging dirt road in the heart of Chama Canyon, you will find Christ In The Desert. The Benedictine Monastery is cloister to about twenty monks. I'd fantasized about retreating to the remote monastery |
Loading ...
Twitter 
Facebook
Subscribe
Outstanding stuff ! A very practical approach to keep going in life. On reading, I immediately forwarded this to my daughters…one is appearing for her 10th boards and the other one for her MBA entrance exams
Wonderful!!! Hardworking individuals really feel sometimes stunt with the discouraging attitudes of others, especially the bosses and seniors; but one should move forward with determination.
Thanks for your kind appreciation, Sushil and Muhammad.
Such encouraging words mean a lot!
Chitra, many thanks for this encouraging and motivating article.
You mentioned SWOT Analysis. Oddly enough, this is what I am writing about, an e-book for job seekers
Also, I was chatting to a part-time taxi-driver who was also a driven character. He also had the same exact idea that failure is but a temporary setback.
He went on to say that we have our periods of successes. So when we experience “failure”, not only we ought to be grateful for the past successes. But be generous enough to allow whomever experiencing success at that point. It is their turn to immerse and enjoy.
And yes, when opportunities and challenges knock, take them by the horns
Very Inspiring article especially at this time of the year when recession is affecting each and every individual
I liked the SWOT analysis implication here…
I also wanna share my article about failure with you,mam.. Failure is Better Than Success.-by jackism
In my opinion,failure is definitely a better teacher than success.None of the great achievements during the course of human history were made on the first try.That’s right,there is no success that doesn’t ensue with numerous failures.Through failures u can only learn your mistakes and great deal of knowledge that will make u ready for the next tries.Indeed,failures are much more helpful than what you imagine.Every time u experience failures,u r actually building the pedestal to step on to climb up towards success.
Thomas Edison once said, “It is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” I think nobody has put it better. Said by one of the greatest inventors of all time: “failure in a sense makes perfection. What Edison refers to as perspiration is actually failure. To put it simply, he failed ninety-nine times before he succeeded on his hundredth attempt.” It could not be more true,i totally agree with him.
Failures will strengthen your will,empower you to pursue better achievement and embolden you to continue your journey towards success with an upbeat heart and unyielding volition.You also learn your mistakes by experiencing bitterness of failures,it gives you deep impression that will linger on your brain and served as a reminder of your mistake.So,whenever you encounter same blunder you have committed in your previous life, the memory will revive and pop out from your brain and not to allow to commit the mistakes again.
On the other hand,success might blur your vision and wither your enthusiasm in a blink of an eye.You might be caught in the pool of ecstasy and self-satisfaction,stranding there forever,unwilling to come out of there.However,by the time the sweet and rapturous liquid had depleted completely,you will find it hard to climb up to the high position u had and used to enjoy previously again,perhaps u will never attain it again.
Success sometimes make people arrogant and condescending, and stimulate them to conduct themselves with a high conceit and complacency.This kinds of behaviors might be very offensive to other and might hurt their vulnerable hearts with a permanently poisonous thorn.Too much of success is always detrimental to our self-images and will make us dormant towards another success until you realized its too late to take it back.
So, after all, is failure better than success? Definitely not. Of course, success is actually the final aim in all aspects of life and one should not forget that failure can also be destructive if it causes us to lose our spirits.so,overall,what I’m trying to mean to tell you when i wrote about disadvantages of having successful feeling is to want u to be consistent and keep falling into failure to evoke your intermittently asleep spirits.Don’t go back to the origin of yourself,keep moving forward,keep in your minds that there is no success in your journey until u closed your eyes, like a proverb”there is a test to know whether your tasks on the earth are finished or not,that is -If u r still alive,it is not.
In a nutshell,my point is that failure is a better teacher than success and we can not learn from success as much as we could possibly learn from failure.Depends on the number of the failures you experienced and encountered, your lives can be changed dramatically either in a good way or bad way. As i mentioned above,you will be affected in a bad way if you lost your purposes and determination by the hardships of failures, you will just stay where you r forever, confining yourselves with an unbreakable shackle in your hands,you will never be able to live out your dream. so keep in mind there is no failure too,just think it is just a tough process of nearing your goals. stick to your strong will,don’t be moved by failure. Lastly, my advice will be-Always keep in mind that there is neither failure nor success existing in the worlds.
Why were the souls so vulnerable? They never strived to achieve anything is it? Perhaps, they always took short-cuts.
Arrogance is a bad habit. But old bad habits die and new bad habits are born. And there is nothing like a bad habit or a good habit in the world
Remember the tyranny of OR…
When you are busy trying to succeed you hear the nursery story of “The Greedy Dog.” When you give up, you hear yet another story of “The Fox and Sour Grapes”.
Life is a “Do It Yourself” project. It would be nice to have a shoulder to lean on. But do it yourself anyway, as you lay the stepping stones for success.