Five Things To Do When You Encounter Failure

Why Failing is an Important Part of Success

Believe it or not, failure is a part of life. You get knocked down by life sometimes, but how you react is what matters.

Do not limit yourself because of the fear of failure. World-renowned sprinter Usain Bolt has said, “I don’t think limits.” I believe the fear of failure limits a lot of people who might have been successful if they had tried. After boxer Anthony Joshua lost to Oleksandr Usyk in a fight, he shared on social media, “I’ve watched the fight, analysed my preparations & identified my mistakes,” Reuters reported. “I’ve learnt my lesson ... Don’t worry about me. My spirit is strong!”

In every process of reaching a goal, you will encounter challenges. Sometimes, not all challenges lead to success, but when you accept failure as part of the process, you will be encouraged to never give up. Try again and again and again until you reach your goal.

“If you have never failed, you have never lived,” the saying often goes. I’ve found that many people are afraid to fail or talk about their failures, but the truth is that everyone has failed, and everyone will fail again.

What do you do when life knocks you down or when you fail momentarily in business or a project? You learn to become better. Don’t jump ship. Instead, improve your skills and develop yourself until you achieve your goals.

Five Things To Do When You Encounter Failure

1. Always stay positive. Your mental state is important for you to pick yourself up after failing. This is not the time to complain about the rules and other factors responsible for your failure; it’s time to accept your failure and move on. It is only a person who knows what it means to be defeated who can find the extra motivation required to win. Every true winner has lost at a point in their life. You need to stay strong and positive about the future. I believe how you respond to failure will determine your success or failure in life.

2. Appreciate the people around you. If you have worked with a team, this is the time to appreciate them. Ensure they understand that as a team, you win and lose together. Your team needs you. Remember, this is just a temporary setback, and you will still need them in the long run, so don’t point fingers. To overcome a failure, you might have to reshuffle certain things, even your team, but you must do so in a way that won’t damage their confidence.

3. Analyze the situation. Take a careful look at the situation. You can either do this on your own or look for an expert who can help you carefully analyze the situation and highlight mistakes so that the failure won’t occur again. Whether it happens in your business or personal life, you need to take time to analyze situations.

Some of the biggest brands have failed, but they couldn’t dwell on it and allow it to affect business plans. Those brands had to do the proper analysis and take the positives from it. It is better to try and fail than not try at all. Similarly, most successful entrepreneurs are also experts in failure. They have failed several times. While you might only see their achievements, remember that they likely had goals missed, time wasted, etc.

4. Identify your mistakes. When you know the mistakes you made, you can learn how to avoid them in the future. Once you identify mistakes, sincerely work on avoiding or fixing them. When you are afraid of making mistakes, you will never try something different.

For example, my company once took on a difficult project, and my team was really worried about failing because we had never handled anything of that magnitude. But, I talked about the positive sides of failing, including that when you attempt something new, you can identify mistakes and improve. The project was a long-term project, so we were able to correct the mistakes made as we moved on with the project. Today, we work on such projects with ease. Something that seemed impossible at one time is now easy for us to handle because we attempted and learned from our mistakes.

5. Strategize and try again. The never-give-up spirit is the winning spirit. Keep trying until you get it right. Every time you try, you get better. Your progress might not be visible at once, but you are perfecting your skills and how to get it done. Thomas Edison reminds us to never give up but to keep trying. He’s often known to have said, “I have not failed 10,000 times—I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”

Every failed attempt gives you an idea of what doesn’t work and what should work. Don’t think that every successful person just had luck on their side. Many people only focus on their success, not on their many years of struggle and repeated failures. I would rather pick a person who has failed to join my team than someone who has never tried.

So don’t be afraid to fail. It is part of the road to success. Failure is life’s greatest teacher. It builds your character and humbles you. Failure is suspended success until the right moment, but in the meantime, you must work hard, think hard and be consistent.

Remember, nothing can defeat a person who refuses to give up.