Turn Your Failures Into Successes
Written by Michael Weaver | Follow me on Twitter | Free updates via Email.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted as other things in my life have grabbed my attention. I’m in need of a solid quote for some inspiration and extra motivation to keep me going! Here’s a good one for those that are trying to make some things happen.
“Every failure brings with it a seed for equivalent success.” – Napoleon Hill
Initial Thoughts: You often hear the words failure and success in the same sentence from people that are in a position to motivate. If you ask around and give it some thought, failure is still failure and too many of those failures piled up doesn’t seem to bring much success. There are big failures and small I suppose. Your failure may not be the next person’s failure. Seems like something that is subjective to each person’s personal paradigm on life and success.
Digging Deeper: Whether we realize it or not, regardless of what you do for a living, chances are you are planting metaphorical seeds all the time. This is a very functional quote, and it’s telling you to learn from your failures. By doing so, you are planting a little seed that will eventually grow into success. Now, you may have to plant more than one seed, but the point is that you are learning from your failures and turning them into something positive and something to grow from. Learning from your failures is largely based on your mindset and how you decide to interpret what has happened. Do you say screw it? Or, do you analyze and figure out what you can do better the next time? Your mental approach is critical in determining your response to failures and setbacks.
What To Walk Away With: Nobody wants to experience failure, but that’s simply how life goes. You might think there are people out there that are successful at anything they put their mind to. Well, that’s far from reality and isn’t the case. Every person experiences failure – it’s how you react to that failure that determines your success. I’ll throw in another quote here that directly relates – Thomas Edison once said “I had to succeed because I finally ran out of things that didn’t work!” I can bet you this, Thomas Edison eventually succeeded because he learned from his failures time and time again – each of which were seeds that grew into an enormous success.
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Image by Airborn Guy.
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Good qoute and good explanation. I must agree that we all need to “Learn” from our “failures”. However, we must also remember that failures are not permanent. The results we get, are just not the correct results. We can recover from this and achieve our goals with a Positive Perspective and action to achieve our desired outcome. If we turn down the wrong street going to a destination, we don’t just stop driving do we? We correct our action, perhaps ask for directions, and get to our destination. Try it, you may like it.
Bob,
Often times failure is a sign of progress and great opportunity. You must fail to succeed – to rule out what doesn’t work and get yourself closer to what does work.
Appreciate the comment!
Mike
A good post with nice quotes
Its a nice friendly reminder that there are people out there who fail much more than we have and yet still succeed.
In my opinion, many people fail these days because of their mindset. After all, your mindset/psychology pretty much occupies most of any of the task you do – motivation, desires, approaches, fears, perception.
By remembering that many successful people have failed many times, it helps the mindset to maintain its motivation and also makes us feel better that we aren’t the only ones in the world who are failing! lol
Exploding Steven
Steven,
Mindset my man. You said it – you can overcome just about anything with the right frame of mind. It’s powerful and you know it!
Mike
Hi Mike,
Here are some definitions of failure by Dr. Robert H. Schuller I’d like to share:
Failure doesn’t mean you were dump to try; it means you had courage to explore and experiment to see what would work and what would not.
Failure doesn’t mean you don’t know how to make decisions; it just means you have to make another decision.
Failure doesn’t mean you’re a failure… It does mean you haven’t succeeded yet.
Failure doesn’t mean you have accomplished nothing… It does mean you have learnt something.
Failure doesn’t mean you have been a fool… It does mean you had a lot of faith.
Failure doesn’t mean you’ve been disgraced… It does mean you were willing to try.
Failure doesn’t mean you don’t have it… It does mean you have to do something in a different way.
Failure doesn’t mean you are inferior… It does mean you are not perfect.
Failure doesn’t mean you’ve wasted your life… It does mean you have a reason to start afresh.
Failure doesn’t mean you should give up… It does mean you must try harder.
Failure doesn’t mean you’ll never make it… It does mean it will take a little longer.
Failure doesn’t mean you’re finished… It does mean you have a chance to try something new.
Failure is never final!
And if you’re a religious person, here’s another one for you from Dr. Schuller:
Failure doesn’t mean God has abandoned you… It does mean God has a better idea!
I hope this helps to inspire you.
Cheers~
Mark
Mark – great definitions – enjoyed reading through these!
There’s no such thing as failure, unless you choose to see it that way. If you don’t achieve the success you are looking to achieve, you have now learned exactly what not to do next time.
The *ONLY* way to fail… is to quit.
Human beings are born successful… we *learn* how to become failures through the reaction (or more accurately stated: over-reaction) of our family and those closest to us when we try something and don’t immediately acheive what we are attempting to achieve… they say things like, “you tried too hard,” “you over-reached,” “you over-extended yourself,” “you leapt before you looked” and the like…
Don’t believe it? Watch babies learn to walk – they see the goal (to walk like everyone else) and don’t pay attention to when they don’t achieve the success they are looking for… instead, they just focus on the goal and try different stuffs to make the goal happen until it does. They don’t think about: oh, I fell in the kitchen, I fell in the living room, I fell in the basement, I fell in the office, I fell in the hallway… guess I just can’t walk in this house!…
Sincerely,
Jeremy R., the Kung Fu Guy
Jeremy,
You are correct. If you remain persistent – your drive will allow you to be successful over time. I will soon write about having perspective, and much of learning from your failures is the ability to have perspective and understand that your future is always in your hands.
Thanks for the comment!
Mike