We all intuitively understand that there is no winning without trying. But we also understand that with every try there is an inherent risk of failure. Few like to fail. This often results in a minimum amount of trying.
What might change in our ‘trying’ if we understood that in every failure there was an opportunity to learn? What might we attempt if we knew we would probably fail, but we’d gain valuable experience? Experience that would provide us needed understanding to be better.
In March of 2023 I attended an event at Oklahoma Wesleyan University (https://www.okwu.edu/) in Bartlesville, OK. The keynote speaker was John Maxwell. John is the Yoda of leadership. He shared with us five perspectives that will help us Win at Failure.
1. Keep failure and success together all the time. We learn lessons through losses. When you keep failure close to success you’ll remain humble. Keeping them together keeps your successes from making you delusional, and your failures from making you suicidal.
2. Know the difference between a good miss and a bad miss. A good miss moves you closer to where you want to go. A bad miss moves you further away. When you make a good miss you make adjustments. A bad miss results in making excuses. You can go from failure to success, but you can’t go from excuses to success. You can adjust your way to success. It’s our response to failure that determines whether it is a good miss, or a bad miss.
3. Embrace hard. Every dream is uphill. We have uphill hopes, but we have downhill habits. The dream is easy. The journey is tough. Many people want the success they see in others, but without the journey that got them there.
4. Anticipate failure. Anticipation influences preparation. As mentioned earlier, with any endeavor there is the potential for failure. Anticipating this allows you to participate in what is necessary to prepare.
5. Develop a process to receive a return on failure. John shared a cycle that, if implemented, would provide both growth and results through failure. Test…fail…learn (the fruit of failure is learning)…improve (the fruit of learning is improvement)…Re-enter. When this process is put into play you will always re-enter at a higher plane.
I leave you with this prayer: God, give me the courage to fail. For if I have failed, at least I have tried. Amen.