A great article written by Precious L. Williams.
“Failure happens to the best of us. It sucks and it’s not fun, but we need it to succeed!
I know you’ve probably heard more than once, in some way or another, that failure happens to everyone. It’s a natural part of life and striving to achieve success. But failure isn’t just something we need to learn to accept as it comes, it’s something we should actively seek.
We NEED to fail in order to have any success. Think of it in the same way as we would think of light vs. dark. Darkness does not exist. Darkness is the absence of light. But without darkness, there can be no light. Without failure, we CANNOT have success. By working toward our goals, we are inviting failure into our lives. Welcome it with open arms.
Here are 5 tips for how you can cope with failure when it inevitably presents itself.
Accept how it makes you feel.
It never feels good to fail. Don’t pretend that it doesn’t anger you, make you feel dejected, or question your path. Accept these emotions. Use them to DRIVE you. Once you embrace your emotions and can learn to cope with these difficult feelings, you will become unstoppable.
Don’t blame yourself, but take responsibility.
Some of us react to failure by putting all of the blame on ourselves, other’s react by only blaming others. Reframe your thinking. Don’t think about whose fault it is, but try to instead find the explanation. This is way more productive than placing the blame on someone else.
Know you’re not alone.
Who’s your biggest inspiration? I can guarantee they’ve had their fair share of failures. In fact, that’s what makes them an inspiration, because it’s what’s helped shape them into the successful person they’ve become. You failed, and that’s okay. You’re in good company.
What did you learn?
This is the key to failure, which makes it the key to success. What did you learn from this setback? If you don’t take the time and effort to extract the meaning and wisdom behind your failure, it’s going to keep happening until you do. Write it down if you have to.
Move on.
Keep going. You’ve received an opportunity to learn a valuable lesson, don’t let it go to waste. Use your failure to propel you forward. Congratulate yourself that you were able to survive the experience, which can be painful.
You’re going to fail, plain and simple. I’m not saying so to discourage you but to empower you. Fail big and proud, it’s good for you and will help you get where you need to be.”
Original article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-need-failure-precious-l-williams-killer-pitch-master-/