If you attempt something and fail, are you a failure? If you attempt something several times or even hundreds of times, and fail, are you a failure? You might say yes to both. Many might say yes to both. We tend to define ourselves as failures quite quickly when we don’t get the result or outcome we are seeking. But failed attempts do not equal failed ability. Failing while trying something new does not make you a failure.
Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, receive over 1,000 rejections while trying to franchise his chicken recipe. It is said that Thomas Edison had over 1,000 failed attempts at trying to invent the light bulb. Baseball legend Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times, which was the Major League Baseball record until it was beaten in 1964 by another legend… Mickey Mantle.
Having doors closed in your face, having unsuccessful outcomes when trying something new, or swinging and missing can all be classified as fails. But you would never label Colonel Sanders, Thomas Edison, Babe Ruth, or Mickey Mantle as failures. Every rejection, every failed attempt, and every strikeout didn’t move these guys closer to becoming failures. Those failed attempts are what it took to achieve greatness.
The internet is loaded with people doing great things. Spins on snowboards, flips on BMX bikes, unimaginable strength feats, and people showing off their fit bodies, fancy cars, and booming businesses. We see clip after clip of other people’s huge successes. But those achievements did not come easy, did not come fast, and surely did not come without many failed attempts. If something sparks our interest, and we embark on trying something new, those first attempts where we fail quickly lead us to believe we are failures. So, we quit.
Failure and success are often seen as opposites, but the failures that we experience are critical to the success. Each failed attempt is an opportunity to learn, to see what didn’t work and to tweak our efforts and behaviors which allows us to move closer to our goal.
Do not let the fear of failure prevent you from trying. Theodore Roosevelt said “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” And hockey great, Wayne Gretzky, said “You’ll miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” At the end of life, the biggest regrets people have are not the things that they did, but the things they did not do.
What prevents people from embarking on big journeys, attempting great things, and building something super special is the fear of failure. Ask anyone who has done anything noteworthy, and they will have a long list of failures they had to endure to achieve what they did. Understand that failed attempts are a requirement for success. You could even get excited about those failed attempts, knowing that each one brings you one step closer to the outcome you are seeking.
Every master was once a disaster. My kids have heard me repeat this phrase hundreds of times. There was a time Michael Phelps could not swim, LeBron James could not dribble a basketball, or **** could not ****. These masters were once disasters. Their early efforts were loaded with failed attempts. Their incredible success is the direct result of likely having more failed attempts than anyone else.
So… do not confuse failed attempts with failure. The failed attempts are stepping stones toward your ultimate goal. True failure only comes when you quit. Redefine failure as an essential ingredient to achieving greatness, and you’ll find yourself less frustrated, more excited, and ultimately, more successful. Yes, you had a failed attempt… but you ARE NOT a failure!
