The Big "F" Word

In our journey towards success, or in life in general, no matter how hard we try, there would always be times wherein we fill fail. Failure is such a big word that most people fear about it so much. Of course, nobody wants to fail, right? But, as we grow older and become mature and smart in our thinking, we will realize that failure is an inevitable part of our life. More than the bad feeling it gives, we have to realize that failures also serves a great purpose in our lives.

In this blog, I wish to share some general ways to overcome failure. The overall strategy is not limited to these, but in my perspective, these are the simplest and effective ones. At the end of the day, we are all unique and we have our own ways in overcoming failure, but I still hope that this assists you on your journey.

1. Accept the situation.

Whenever we realize that we fail on something, it's important that we accept that it happened. A normal human tendency is to deny it. There are possible reasons why we do this: first, it hurts our ego and pride so much, making it hard for us to accept the reality that we failed. Second, we may be afraid of what people will say and think about us, that failing would put us in a bad light. Lastly, we restrain ourselves from self-pity and from thinking that we are not good enough.

Don't get me wrong, accepting the situation is definitely not easy. Failures will surely hurt us, sometimes a little but most of the time, a lot. One thing I learned from my journey is that it's always alright to express yourself and be genuine with your emotions. Cry if you could, so that the pain will subside faster. Take the hurt in for a while instead of rejecting and hiding it. Let it out but be conscious enough to still take control of yourself. Don't dwell on that feeling for too long. When the pain already subsides, your mind will be cleared from being clouded and you can begin thinking rationally on your next move.

If you're not comfortable battling it alone, find someone to talk to, someone you trust and someone you know who is matured enough, someone who would be willing to listen to you and give you valuable pieces of advice. Be open to that person, say what you feel, vent out if you will, but also be prepared to listen to what this person has to say. This person can help you to ground yourself back in reality again, encourage you and even help you to move forward.

2. Learn from the situation.

Experience is the best teacher, as what most people say. This is an important part of every failure. We have to learn from the experience. Let's take failures positively by training our minds to see the bigger picture. It definitely happened for a good reason. We have to think about realizations and lessons we've learned from what happened, and how that experience can challenge us to do better. We have to use that experience as a tool to improve ourselves and focus on what benefits it can bring to our lives.

3. Think positive.

If you are reading my blogs, you would probably remember me saying how powerful our mind really is. Our actions are influenced by what we think, so in the failure context, it's also the same. After we accepted and learned from the situation, we should feed our mind with the fact that failing in something doesn't mean that our whole life is a failure as well. Just because we have setbacks doesn't mean that we will keep failing in this area of our lives. We shouldn't fall into this deadly trap which will create bigger problems or worst, risking our lives in the process. Instead, let our minds focus on the lessons and how we can overcome these failures and be better next time.

4. Move forward.

A popular saying reminds us that "there's a rainbow after the rain." This tells us that whatever hardship, struggles or failures we will encounter in our lives, those are just temporary and those won't last. In every bad situation that will happen in our lives, we should always find the courage to pick ourselves up and move forward. It may take a while, but let's not sit too long on the bad situation, rather work on how we can overcome those or how we can fix the problem. Aside from having the courage, we should also regain your self-esteem or confidence. Don't let those be taken away from us. At the end of the day, what matters is that we take accountability and responsibility in our mistakes or wrong decisions, accept the reality that we failed, learn from it and move on.

There you have it, folks. I hope this blog gave you valuable insights on how to overcome failures and somehow changed your perspective on what failure really is. More importantly, I hope that you've learned how to treat failures positively and realize the great purpose it brings to our lives. 'Til my next blog. :)

***

Thanks for reading my blog. Did you find this helpful? Did it inspire you? Please leave a comment, click "follow" and "subscribe". :)