Why We Fail
Many of us carry a wrong perception of failure. We often take it as a final sign before we give up on our goals and aspirations. We see it as an irreversible milestone that has put a stop to our forward momentum.
What we don’t realize is that often times, we haven’t prepared enough for the task at hand. Or we haven’t used the tools at our disposal correctly. A needle can be used to repair, or stitch a brand new suit. Likewise, we can use technology as a means of distraction and entertainment and not to our advantage as a tool for learning and growth.
Here are the ways we can rethink failure and become unstoppable.
Price We Pay
Failure is the price we pay for success. The lessons are the value we get out it. We forget that it is an essential part of the process of learning and growing. When failure does happen, we take it personally. But failure is objective, it doesn’t have ill feelings towards you. It is an obstacle that shows up in everyone’s life especially when we’re moving forward with positive momentum.
Assess Your Goals
In the heat of our ambitions, we might be signing up for goals that are unrealistic. Take a stock of your availability, your time and your priorities and reset your success criteria with your goals.
Get A Perspective
When you end up with unfavorable outcomes, take a step back to think. How will you feel about it two weeks from now? Just, don’t over think. Most of the time, the reason why you’ve been fired from your job might not have anything to do with you as a person at all. And just because you failed at something, doesn’t mean your life is a failure.
Set Your Mind
Don’t fear failure. If everyone was afraid of fumbles and mishaps, toddlers will never learn to run, there would be no rocket launches or any earthlings in mars anytime soon. So, begin with a sense of purpose and an unstoppable vision of a mission, and you will fear no failure or disappointment.
Plan For Failure
Once you understand failure is inevitable, its easy to prepare for it. Have a back up plan for all the possible things that can go wrong. Set expectations, take stock of all possible outcomes, reassess your goals and try your best.
–

–
Define Possible Outcomes
Before you set out to do anything, define all the possible outcomes of your action.
Doing so can help what might be an unexpected catastrophe can be deemed a small blip because you had expected a few things to go wrong along the way.
Not Doing Enough
When it comes to “failed relationships”, we often overlook the systematic break down of communication that has led up to the moment in question. For any relationship to work, we must never forget to meet the other person midway. Its easy to get caught up with a tunnel vision about our own needs, which can lead the other person to feel ignored and discounted.
Learn From Mistakes
If anything, failure is a good indicator that we need to learn and grow in our effort for achievement. At the minimum, you can make sure that you shouldn’t repeat an certain action or task that’s led to the road block. It is important to try to keep going inspite of not knowing the solution before hand. Especially, if its a new thing. There’s a 50% chance of success than a 0% for not trying at all.
With a simple question you ask yourself, you can change mistakes into lessons: “What can I do better next time?”
Progress Not Perfection
Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, but he also filed some 2300 other patents in his lifetime, majority of which remained obscure and unimpressive inventions. Bottom line, be free of judgment – of what you should be doing and where you should be at on the path. Keep moving without applying the brakes of self doubt.
The most predictable path to quality is quantity – but many people fail to achieve originality because they develop one or two ideas – then obsessively refine them trying to reach some kind of perfection. ~ Adam Grant
–
Be Mindful
Thinking about our past failures can paralyze us and thinking about the uncertain future can catastrophize unwanted outcomes. Be in the moment to see the obvious path ahead, instead of over-complicating the solutions. Think small and celebrate each milestone along the way.
Pathway To Mastery
How many hours of practice do you think a figure skater endures before getting the perfect swirl, or the graceful leap. Ask Michelle Kwan, a figure skater, who once said, “Learning to skate means falling down over and over and over again.”
Fail Big Always
Every hero is an underdog who has to fight for something. That makes you one heck of a protagonist of your own story. Elevate your game, and by failing over and over again, learn what won’t work the next time around.
Go on, inch slowly towards the finish line like a true soldier.
–
The greatest glory in living lies not in ever falling, but in rising every time we fall. ~ Nelson Mandela
– 0 –
About The Article Author:
Hi, I’m Rachana. Its been my dream for years to do something to consciously create a better future where every one of us is excited about our own potential. My challenge to everyone is that they aspire for their personal best and leave a legacy of their work through their contributions to mankind.
One more thing. In December of 2044, I hope to win the Nobel.
Will you join me on this journey of growth and transformation?
Namasté.
COURAGE - A Pillar of FutureSTRONG Academy
Our children will one day face the real world without our support. Academic development is not the only skill they will need in the real world where people skills like taking the lead, emotional intelligence and a strong moral compass will determine who will shine. So, as parents who want to raise well rounded adults, we want to give them the right tools for their personal development.
Here is COURAGE as described as the 6 C’s of Future STRONG.
Find Below Better Strategies On COURAGE
Beyond GenAI Pilots: How Enterprises Build Scalable AI with Governance and Trust
Current State of AI Affairs If you're a transformation leader at your organization, or lead any type of team, you must have seen multiple memos by now from senior leadership on the need to innovate and incorporate AI into your existing workflows. These can come...
Empowering Women to Lead in AI: Inside the ElevateHER Launch Event in Atlanta
A Keynote On Women Leaders In AI On March 20th, I attended the launch party of ElevateHER, a non-profit dedicated to building an ecosystem for women to lead in AI. It felt like the perfect opportunity to step into the world of AI firsthand and see what...
Stop Hustling, Start Living: Nietzsche, Self-Mastery, and the Courage to Quit
In his work, The Antichrist, Friedrich Nietzsche talks about a certain type of person who has the most tolerance for suffering, because they experience difficulty as meaningful. “The most intelligent men, like the strongest, find their happiness where others would...
Why Being a Generalist Is the Ultimate Power Move in the Age of AI, Uncertainty, and Reinvention
The Case for the Generalist Years ago, I had created a username called wannabepolymath. I wasn't sure which single thing interested me most because I wanted to learn many different things. As I read more, I felt a growing urge to explore new fields, seeking...
When AI Mirrors Our Pain: The Uncomfortable Truth About Human Suffering in Training Data
The loneliness. God, Andy. The loneliness. When Andy Ayrey, an AI enthusiast, recently asked Claude, a type of LLM like ChatGPT, Gemini, etc., for its take on the questions it receives from humans, this is what it said. The loneliness. God, Andy. The loneliness. In...
How to Build a Second Brain: Journaling, Digital Gardens, and the Art of Lifelong Learning
Why Build A Second Brain There was a time in my life when the stack of unread books on my nightstand gave me terrors. Luckily, now I have audiobook subscriptions and bookmarked ebooks and I can’t see them looming over me all the time to give me the shivers....
Finding Peace on a Walk Across America: What a Dog, the Deep South, and a Buddhist Monk Teach Us
How Do We Find Peace? “By practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is the medicine we all need.” This was the answer given by a Buddhist monk at the Walk for Peace event yesterday in deep south Georgia. And what a moment it was. A Pilgrimage of Peace in...
If I Had My Life to Live Over, I’d Pick More Daisies: A Gentle Reminder to Live Fully
https://youtu.be/7QQ2uaw1PjY - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Pick More Daisies If you're like me, you get a lot of forwards on WhatsApp. One such poem is called "If I Had My Life To Live Over". I love the spirit behind this one. I researched...
Lessons in Effortless Living from the Nile: How Flow, Impermanence, and Surrender Shape a Meaningful Life
Certain experiences sharpen our sense of being alive, like revisiting our day while journaling at night, the fleeting jolt when a stranger’s gaze catches yours across the room, or wandering cobblestone streets in a new city. The Nile, too, is such an...
Let’s Reimagine the Übermensch: Creative Freedom in Service to Something Greater
Every culture has its superheroes. There is Hercules, the legendary Greek hero and son of Zeus, who achieved god-like status through his extraordinary actions. Then there is Arjuna, the epic warrior prince from the Hindu Mahabharata, renowned for his unmatched courage...
Why I Really Have 3,452 Friends: The Quiet Ethos of Enduring Friendship
- Fun days are when I meet many brand new strangers and also have a chance to invite some of them to my home. Yesterday was one such day. I was witness to an event where two friends who had never met after 7th grade, but had stayed in touch, met in person after...
AI Chatbots Are Being Misused to Create Child Sexual Abuse Material. And It’s a Wake-Up Call
- Parents, Here's The News Coming From The IWF For the first time ever, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has confirmed something deeply disturbing: AI chatbots are being used to generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This isn’t just a hypothetical risk...
What Marcus Aurelius and Kahlil Gibran Can Teach Us About Surviving (and Thriving) in the Age of AI
- The Poet In My Memory "In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness, and that longing is in all of you." Kahlil Gibran wrote in his seminal work, The Prophet. The first time I came across the name Gibran was in my childhood when my mom would read...
Choosing Growth Over the Easy Win: How to Navigate Life’s Crossroads
- That Y In The Road As a student (indirect) of Swami Chinmayananda, his teachings have had a profound impact on how I live my daily life in a personal capacity as a mother, wife and friend. I also try to imbibe Guruji's teachings in how I interact with my...
When AI Becomes More Human Than Humans: Relationships, Intimacy, and the Age of the Promptstitute
- Erotica, Intimacy And AI It feels like yesterday we were seeing huge societal changes happen in the way Gen Z is turning to AI for emotional support instead of actual dating. I had written about it here. And just this summer, I was whining about how adults...
They’re Touching Grass! Small Joys of Parenting Gen Z in a Screen-Obsessed World 📵🤳
- The Small Joys of Parenting Gen Z Yesterday, my 21 and 17-year-old were part of a music pop-up show in Piedmont Park in Atlanta. Daniel Caesar, the Canadian singer, was performing for a group of young adults. And the best part, they were touching grass! Too...
Why Vulnerability Is the Ultimate Superpower in Life and Leadership
- Discovering the Power of Vulnerability A few years ago, when I discovered Brené Brown through her books and her podcasts, something shifted in me. I had been asking myself a lot of questions on staying true to my nature and finding alignment in how I acted in...
If I Die Tomorrow, Let This Be My Final Message to You {Audio}
https://youtu.be/rSxE2YtgbvI - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - A Love Letter to Living Fully Someone once told me, to them, I feel like an unexplored abundance of everything. I hope you choose to live that way too – full of wonder and...


















