COPING WITH FAILURES & MISTAKES

Failure can be an unwanted and unpleasant experience, but it is integral for success.

Everyone has bad days when nothing feels right or times when we fail to achieve our goals and find it hard to cope with failure. Some people pick themselves up and move on easily while others slip into a downward spiral. We experience a range of emotions in the face of failure, such as disappointment, shame, sadness, etc. The first instinct is often to escape by suppressing these emotions. Some might also develop a fear for failure and go to great lengths to avoid the possibility of failure. This will only bring about short-term relief, and more often than not, you could end up missing out on the opportunities for success.

To truly resolve the issue of a fear of failure, recognise what you are feeling and allow yourself space to feel them. However,it is important not to dwell on it for too long. Try to perceive failure as something you undergo or experience, it is not who you are as a person nor does it make you a failure.

Once you are mindful of this, the next step is to figure out what to do to improve. Do not make excuses or blame others for your failures as it is more important to identify elements in the process that may have contributed to the mistake. Have you had enough preparation? Did you seek help when you needed it? Lastly and most importantly, what can you do to turn things around?

Instead of seeing failure as a pitfall, look at it as a stepping stone towards your goal and a guide to your future. Failure has shown you what does not work, and is now offering you the chance to try something that might work. Just because you didn’t succeed this time does not mean you won’t find success down the road.

As Winston Churchill said, “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” Learning to fail and accepting it can be painful, but once you acquire the skills to handle the challenges in your way, you will find success easily.