5 Steps to Master Failure

“The worst thing that happens to you may be the best thing for you if you don’t let it get the best of you.” Will Rogers

Sooner or later each of us will experience failure in our life. Failure is inevitable and the disappointment that follows can either make us or break us. Failure is never fun, is rarely welcome, and nearly always leads to some form of regret. Nevertheless, how we respond to failure and how we handle it will be critical to our success in life. Indeed, failure can actually be a good thing though we may not see it or believe it in the moment. Below are 5 suggestions to help us use failure to our advantage.

# 1 It Happens

We must all realize that each of us will fail. At some point and time it happens to us all. Accepting this fact and knowing failure will come to everyone regardless of talents, money, experience, education, backgrounds, etc. will help us cope and overcome. Admitting that failure is for everyone at some point in time will give us strength to push ahead. For some it comes early in life and for others later. Embracing this fact will help us take advantage of it when it comes knocking on our door.

# 2 Own it

Not only must we accept the fact that we are not perfect, we must also admit we failed. Blaming, searching for unexplainable reasons or answers, or pointing fingers will rarely help. Instead, when we accept the fact that we failed and believe at least a good part of the blame belongs to us, we can begin to heal quicker. This doesn’t mean this won’t hurt, but it will allow us to move on more quickly and effectively. Owning our failures and accepting them for what they are will begin a successful recovery process leading us to success.

# 3 Look to Learn

I find myself saying a lot, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and for the most part it is true. The failure can hurt, and is extremely difficult to deal with at times, but it can make us a better person. I’ve learned overcoming difficulties builds character. We can learn a lot about ourselves and the world we live in through failure. And because of this, we can turn something that seems like a huge disaster in to something wonderful. So just because we’ve failed doesn’t mean we won’t learn something very valuable that will one day lead us to success. Have a good attitude and take advantage of failure by deciding now to let it push you to greater heights! Looking for opportunities to learn in failure will make overcoming it that much easier.

# 4 Define You

Don’t let failure define who you are. What this means is how you feel about yourself should not be based on whether you succeed or not. Rather we should place our self-esteem in the type of person we become in life. Measuring ourselves by our contributions to others rather than by our personal achievements will help us overcome setbacks more quickly. No matter how hard it is for us to believe it at times, becoming a good person is so much more important and satisfying than being #1 at everything we do or in other words, never failing. Hollywood and Professional Athletes come to mind as some pretty obvious examples of those who achieve seemingly a lot yet never seem happy. Basing our self-esteem on our ability to always succeed one day without fail will disappoint.

# 5 Never Give Up

Just because we fail doesn’t mean we can’t accomplish our dreams or live a wonderful life full of success and satisfaction. Rebounding from a tough failure is not easy but very possible. The beauty of life is that we almost always have another chance, another day to try again. History is full of people who experienced tons of failure and disappointments before accomplishing great achievements. In fact, in most cases failure becomes a catalyst to success. As the old adage goes, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Doing so will help us overcome failure and reach our full potential.

Failure is an inevitable part of life that each of us will one day experience and deal with. Realizing that is happens to us all, taking ownership for it, learning from it, not allowing it to define us as a person and never giving up will help us take full advantage of it. Preparing now and following these five suggestions will help us come out on top when failure comes our way.