I have been afraid of failure most of my life. I don't want to fail because I don't want to disappoint the people I care about. Whether it is in school, sports, or life I try my best and when I fail I take it as a sign that my best isn't good enough. It is a hard realization that we cant be perfect at everything, especially for perfectionists like me. But it is a lesson we all have to learn at some point. For me this realization came this semester in a small way. My personal failure this semester was my failure at reaching my fitness goals. Every new years eve for as long as I can remember I have told myself that this is my year to get fit (and hopefully lose some weight). This year I both failed and completed my goal. I started taking more classes at the gym and running and this past March I completed my first 10k. I finished in just over an hour and 10 minutes but to me that was a failure. Silly I know since I should have been happy just to cross the finish line, but I didn't think it was good enough. I initially took the wrong approach to this failure. I stopped working out, I let school overtake my life, and I lost some of what I had worked so hard for to gain. It wasn't until my mom told me how proud she was of me for simply finishing the race that I realized I hadn't actually failed anyone but myself. My real failure was stopping working out. From this I learnt another lesson that I have been taught time and time again, don't give up. This is true in all aspects of life and especially business and entrepreneurship. I also learnt to not put the weight of the world on my shoulders because the world is full of people willing to help you carry it.
Failing sucks. That's the flat out truth of it. No one likes to fail. Trust me if you are reading this and think you are alone you are not! Sometimes you just have to suck it up and move on. The important part is that you try your best. It sounds corny but its true. Never give up and never stop believing. Our failures are stepping stones for the next big stage in our lives. So celebrate them. Because every failure means you are closer to success. This class taught me that. With every failed idea, interview, and pitch we were forced to keep moving on. To take the criticism and put it towards making the next one better. So as long as you aren't failing this class go out and celebrate your other failures!!
I get when you talk about disappointing the ones you care about. As hard as failing may be its a lot harder to see he disappointed faces on other people when you tell them. I think that may be worse then actually failing at something. Heres a link to my post! http://adnabrkanicent3003.blogspot.com/2016/04/celebrating-failure.html
ReplyDeleteHey Niamh,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you have an optimistic view on failure. Sometimes we have to take small steps to get to the big prize, and that was the case with your 10k. I am sure if you practice running, you can get a faster time on your next 10k. My blog post was about a different scenario and talked about my failure in my academics. You can check it out at http://entrepreneurshipblogs.blogspot.com/2016/04/celebrating-failure.html