It’s always a blow to the ego to fail at something – relationships, business pursuits and more. But failure is the best way to learn about yourself and to be able to zero in on exactly what to do to turn that failure into a triumph.
Most people hate to fail and then fail to see it as a teacher because they’re too wrapped up in the ‘failing’ aspect. If you can take a step back and see your failure as the great teacher that it is, you’ll learn lessons that are invaluable to your future success.
The first thing you must do to make a successful transformation of a failure to a triumph is to recognize what went wrong. Are you being too much of a perfectionist or did your failure happen because the goal was unobtainable?
For example, if you wanted to lose 30 pounds in two weeks – the odds are very much against you. After you realize the cause of the failure, you can learn to master the art of learning from it and better know what you must do to turn the failure into success.
Here are some ways you can begin to learn from failures and enjoy the journey back to triumphs:
Leave your comfort zone – Sometimes achieving success means that you must turn away from what you know and take risks or do something different. Your comfort zone is like a cocoon, keeping you tight and lackadaisical in a neat little world that seldom changes.
Generate a new plan – Okay, you know what didn’t work – now, focus on another plan with what you’ve learned from the failure. If you were trying to lose weight, think of why the past didn’t work. If you launched a business plan that fell flat, what could you have done differently?
Do you have the needed experience and/or expertise? Most of us are skilled in some areas, but not others. If you’re remodeling a home, you might want to get an electrician to revamp the electrical needs. Enlist other, more experienced people, to help with your plan of success.
Consider the setbacks – You’ve learned lessons from past mistakes. Now, put them to use for you by anticipating the obstacles you’ll likely encounter in your new plan.
Believe in yourself – Developing a positive self-image can help turn the worst failure into the highest of triumphs. If you’ve suffered low self-esteem from past failures, find ways to buoy up your self-image and have faith in your abilities and skills.
When you incorporate a way of thinking that includes optimism and having compassion for yourself, you’ll be more able to recognize that failures are just a part of life that will help us in our future endeavors.
