Success Through Failure
Perceived failure is an uncomfortable part of our life experience. Failure can cause feelings of self-doubt, embarrassment, shame, and anxiety. These feelings could cause us to shy away from engaging in challenges that might lead to failure. However, there are benefits that come from experiencing setbacks to our desired outcome. Some of the benefits are-
- Discovering what will and will not work. Thomas Edison is a prime example of persisting through failure to discover the right avenue for success. He once said, “I have not failed-I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work” (Hendry, 2013).
- Setbacks encourage us to reconsider our approach to a problem.
- We can learn to reframe, or view differently, the way we think about failure.
- We might gain skills we did not previously possess.
- We will experience growth as individuals.
- The process may lead to other life opportunities, which in turn can expand our personal growth. (Ricard, n.d.)
We can enhance our capacity to learn from failure by developing a growth mindset. We may not succeed in all things in life, but we can increase our abilities, knowledge, and skills. Cote from the Harvard Business School (2022) shares that a growth mindset is a belief that you can increase your “intelligence, abilities, and talents…through effort.” Here are two recommendations to help you develop a growth mindset so that when challenges arise you can benefit and learn from them.
- Reframe how you view instances where you feel you failed. You can do this by asking questions like, What did I learn from this? In what ways did I do well?
- Believe in the power of yet. Mastery comes from repeated practice. While you may not be good at something yet, it doesn’t mean that you can never gain skill in it. When you find yourself saying you will never be good at something, change that into “I’m not good at it yet.”
References
- Cote, C. (2022, March 10). Growth Mindset vs. fixed mindset: What's the difference? Business Insights Blog. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/growth-mindset-vs-fixed-mindset
- Hendry, E. (2013, November 20). 7 epic fails brought to you by the genius mind of Thomas Edison. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/7-epic-fails-brought-to-you-by-the-genius-mind-of-thomas-edison-180947786/#:~:text=In%20response%20to%20a%20question,ways%20that%20will%20not%20work.%E2%80%9D
- Ricard, A. (n.d.). 7 ways failure can teach us more than success. 7 Ways Failure Can Teach Us More than Success - Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology - Simon Fraser University. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://www.sfu.ca/wwest/WWEST_blog/8-ways-failure-can-teach-us-more-than-success.html
Authors
Eva Timothy, USU Extension Professional Practice Extension Assistant Professor
Eva Timothy
Professional Practice Extension Assistant Professor | Millard County Director
Home and Community Department
Related Research