Does Failing Make You a Failure?

You took a risk and failed, now what? Your failure does not mean that you are a failure; it only shows that the actions you tried failed. So what, separate the failure from the person. The real test is how you handle the failed attempt. Easier said than done.

There are two ways you can handle failure. You can either embrace the failed attempt try to learn from it, or you may determine that you don’t like the feeling of failing and won’t take a risk again. The better approach is naturally to learn from your mistakes, face the failure head on and try again. To learn from the failure, consider writing down the activity or vision you had. What were some of the goals you tried to reach and the strategies you used to reach them? 

Was the activity you tried to accomplish not in your core competency? Did you fail because of something you did or due to something beyond your control? To be able to take on your next attempt you must do a post-mortem of what worked & what didn’t in the failed attempt. There is always something you can take away from the failed attempt and apply to your future endeavors. If you can identify why the failure occurred you could plan better for next time.

You aren’t the first person to fail, nor will you be the last. The fact you did fail at least means you tried and put forth the effort. In turn it says more about your character to try and fail rather than to have never tried at all.

Failing does not make you a failure, not learning from failing does. Update your strategic plan with lessons learned from your failed activities.