Embrace Failure: ‘Embracing failure is a necessary part of Deeper Learning’

Chitrakala Ramachandran

Today’s young people take even the smallest failure as a serious disaster. If you look into the lives of some of the most eminent personalities, you will see that they would have walked on a very rugged path. Most of the successful people will have a story of their bitter failures from which they would have revived like a UNICORN.

To mention a few:

Michael Jordan the world-famous football player was rejected by his high school

‘Varsity Basketball Team- can you believe it?

Amithab Bhachan was rejected by All India Radio for his unusual base voice

is unbelievable Isn’t it?

Steve Jobs- was fired from the Apple company that he founded, He then joined a

couple of other computer companies which were also bankrupted. Later he

rejoined APPLE and led it to make it a profitable company.

Once J.K. Rowling said,

"You might not have failed on the scale I did” ….

What a powerful statement this is! Yes, I think her perseverance and determination were that which led her to what she is looked upon today.

She also says,

"But it is impossible to live without failing at something or sometimes, unless you live so cautiously, that you may have not lived at all"

Everyone will have a setback in life at some point, whether in a business

a company a profession, or others. The determination that we have to adapt is to improve our skills in decision-making, rather than the failure that engulfs us in a passive mode.

What can you do that failure does not overrule you?

Stop seeing failure as a measure of your self-worth.?

Failing can lead to sadness and frustration. Perhaps your anticipate was to succeed, however, failure is not a measure of the value a person has. You are not a dullhead because you failed an exam. You are not weak just because you lost a match. Use this moment to push forward rather than to give up.

• Believe that you are resilient and can bounce back from failure.
• See your self-worth through your ability.
• You may not be good at one thing, but that does not mean that you are bad at everything.

Focus on what you can do well.?

After a failure, you may feel like there's nothing good about yourself. But the truth is, you may be a good listener or handy with fixing things, or dependable or even artistic.

• Use your strong skills to gain the lost confidence. While it is important to improve things about yourself, it is also important to cherish the strong aspects of yourself.
• Avoid negative thinking by focusing on the positives that you possess.

Seek guidance from those you trust.?

Don't let others determine your worth and value. Avoid listening to negative people or those who bully you to get what they want. When looking for guidance, trust those who care about you.

• Accept healthy criticism. Consider saying, "Thank you for your support during my tough times".
• Open yourself to a trustworthy person. This will help you to analyze or shed out the negativity that dominates you.

Accept your limitations.?

You may have had to forfeit a match after you got injured. You may have submitted a team project that failed due to some unforeseen change in the team. By learning to distinguish what you can change, and what you can't, you can better understand how external things may impact your life

• Take this as an opportunity to focus on what you can do.
• For example, failing to get to work on time due to extreme weather circumstances may have been out of your control. Yet, failing to get work done on time routinely due to time mismanagement may have been within your control.
• When looking at a recent failure, consider analyzing them.

Define failure as a temporary one.?

• Failure is a loss, but avoid looking at this as permanent. Every cloud has a silver lining, so no failure is permanent.
• By seeing failure as temporary. It will feel like a small hill rather than a huge mountain.

Learn to anticipate downfalls or failures.?

Accept that it may and will happen at any point in time, this will keep you watchful and more responsible.

• Think about the possibility of failure in any situation. See it as a way to be motivated to be more organized and more resilient.
• Focus your energy on how to be positive and overcome the situation.
• Making backup plans can help you avoid a fear of failure.

Finding Inspiration

• Use failure as a stepping stone to succeed.?
• Learn from your mistakes this is what History teaches us.
• Understanding how failure and success can be handled, will help you to be in a good state of mind.?

How can you prepare yourself?

• Focus on the future rather than sulking about the past.?
• Evaluate what worked and what did not.
• Own up to your faults.?
• Try to laugh at your mistakes.Using a GRIT Strategy
• Have the Guts to face all situations to stand tall and study.
• Be Resilient.?
• Take Initiative.?
• Be Tenacious.?

To conclude, A wonderful example for us to remember is His Excellency,

Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam said,

"FAIL means the 'First Step In Learning'".

Be Optimistic, Confident, and more Creative this will make you stronger and

beautiful.

Chitrakala Ramachandran