Fall seven times, stand up eight. Japanese Proverb
For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes. Proverbs 24:16
Free Fall by Capt’ Gorgeous via Flickr under Creative Commons License
As long as you keep getting up, you are not done.
Those who learn how to overcome failure become stronger, not because they have never experienced a fall, but because they know how to handle one.
Let’s face it, we are all confronted with failure. If you have not failed, that means you are not trying.
For the longest time, I lived by the idea: “Better safe than sorry.” I understood this to mean that “safe” was equal to “not trying anything risky.” This could not be further from the truth.
When it comes to ideas, work, dreams, and goals, it is better to be safe by choosing action.
It is safer to risk falling while moving forward than it is to risk nothing, and learn nothing in the process.
Failure happens. The difference is how we deal with it.
Some people use failure as an excuse to give up, to become bitter, or cynical. Other people look at failure as an opportunity to revisit past decisions and to create new strategies.
Thousands of successful people did not achieve success on their first try, but they were not discouraged. They picked themselves up and went back at it with an even stronger, single minded tenacity to achieve their goal.
History does not build statues of those who “played it safe” by doing nothing. We remember and celebrate those who tried, failed, and tried again.
Remember, we all are terrible at something before we are good at it.
Great thoughts Jon! It’s about having perseverance and endurance through the different seasons of life and leadership. The one who wins is the one who keeps getting back up after they fall.
Absolutely right, Dan! It’s only a true failure if you don’t learn from it.
Agree:) Failure is often the pathway toward success.
This what I try to remind myself when I fail – and it happens more than I’d like. But I need these failures to keep growing and moving forward.
In the exact moment, you are right, it can be very difficult to remember that the failure really can be a good thing. I truly believe it is a habit to see the potential.
As long as they are not the same exact mistakes, we can still grow. I know I have been stuck with one or two things that kept coming up. I found that when I would write these “learning experiences” down and reflected a bit more on them, it really helped me not repeat the same ones.