The Importance of Failure in Our Careers

8/12/2019 The Importance of Failure in Our Careers

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THE IMPORTANCE OFFAILURE IN OUR

CAREERS


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DEFINATION OF FAILURE

Failure is the state or condition of not

meeting a desirable or intended objective,and may be viewed as the opposite ofsuccess and the worst cases leading topersonal injury.


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REASONS WHY FAILURE IS THE

KEY TO SUCCESS

Failure is a Function of TryingThe best way to measure your progress at something is the numberof setbacks and failures youve had. If you havent failed yet,chances are you arent trying very hard. Failure is the blacksmithshammer that tempers the sword of success. If you want to get reallygood at something, you have to fail at least a few times.

If you look at all the great men and women throughout history, youllnotice that they had one main thing in common. They failed, and theyfailed often. Think of Thomas Edison. How many times did he fail tofind the right filament for his light bulb? There are various estimates,

but they all range in the ballpark of a whole heck of a lot. Henry Fordknew of failure intimately. So much so that he is quoted for saying thefollowing: Failure is the opportunity to begin again, moreintelligently.

Clearly, failure represents opportunity and growth, not deficit andloss.


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Success Lies in Seeing Failure as a ToolJust as all the greats have something in common, so too do thetrue failures of life: their inability to use failure as a tool. Whenyou feel that sinking, desperate sensation known as failure and

you take it to heart, you diminish yourself. You give your poweraway to an external event. Success is about learning how torecognize why you failed, and how youre going to compensate forit.I find it helpful to ask myself the following questions upon failures,big and small.

What brought about the failure?How much of it is in my realm of influence?How can I use my influence to turn failure into success?What steps do I need to go through to try again?

What can I do every day to ensure that my next try is done moreintelligently? You may want to get out a piece of paper and go through that list.Be completely open and honest as you ask yourself eachquestion. Analyze your answers carefully and implement them dont procrastinate! Remember, failure is an opportunity, not aburden. Be grateful for a chance to grow


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Failure Builds Character

If you look at the events leading up to any significant victory,

youll often discover failure as the biggest motivator. Just as theColorado River created the Grand Canyon over a period ofmillions of years, success can also come in small chunks, andtheyre part of any winning strategy. On the other hand, waitingyears upon years for something to happen isnt effective whenyou can take action now.

So what do you need to consistently test yourself and learn fromfailed attempts? Character.Success occurs in leaps and boundsfor people who are ready for it. To genuinely create value, day inand day out, requires determination, purpose, and most of all, thatsubtle yet all-important trait known as character. Failure is a farbetter character builder than any affirmation or fleeting goal. Whileeach success will propel you by a small amount, failure will forgeyour career and your personality like nothing else will. Its thedifference between a natural lake being formed over thousands ofyears and a man-made lake coming into fruition in under a year .


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REASONS FOR CAREER FAILURE

Laziness.

Laziness is one of those things we can recognize in other people,even if we cant see it in ourselves. A good way to describe it is illdiscipline. People suffering from ill discipline are those who are notthinking things through, not preparing themselves and generally justbelieving they can wing it. This leads to irresponsible, undisciplinedbehavior such as staying out too late, drinking too much, not

sleeping enough, not taking pride in our appearance and being latewhen we could have avoided it. Doing such things leads to us lettingpeople down. All of these behaviours show a laziness that we noticein others but have to understand that we ourselves are alsosometimes guilty of.

Failure to take on board new things.

Were talking here about new ideas, new concepts, new skills, thingsthat challenge status quo and so on. If we dont have the mindset toembrace what is new, we are in for a rough and ultimately unfulfillingride in our careers.


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Not recognizing that your job is just a step.During your career, you will have many jobs. You may not have asmany employers as jobs but you are still going to have many jobs.The job that you are in now is a step to the next one. If you believethat the one you are in is where you are staying, possibly forever,

then you need to think again. Youd be hard pushed to find a jobthat has not changed fundamentally in the last 5 or 10 yearsanywhere in economy. The likelihood is that the rate of changearound jobs is going to be at least maintained if not increased.


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HOW FAILURE CAN HELP YOU SUCCEED

Benefit #1 Failure offers a tangible representation of what can bedone better. Sometimes we dont know what will work until weve

made a few attempts. The result of those attempts even if they wereembarrassingly off track can offer a visual representation of whatneeds to adjusted for next time. You might spend hours mulling overan idea, but our mind isnt always able to see the full picture withoutthe aid of our hands actually doing the work. So do the properplanning, but consider failure a part of the necessary process todetermining a solution or a viable idea.

Benefit #2 Failure offers time for reflection.

If we were always moving full speed ahead towards our view ofsuccess, we might not take the time to look around and readjust ourcourse. Just because you are able to be successful in a particularendeavor or career field doesnt mean that its right for you. Failure issometimes just the Universes way of telling us to look around andmake sure we are dedicated enough to the path we are on to keep on

truckin . If we arent where we need or want to be, its the perfect timeto readjust the sails and move in another direction.


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Benefit #3 Failure can offer motivation to keep moving forward.

Think about the goals youve set out to achieve and beensuccessful at. Id guess that the ones fraught with the most trialsand tribulations are the ones you are most proud of achieving,right?The truth is if we are truly committed to seeing a goalthrough to the end, we are motivated by failure, even inspired byit. Failure can provide a spark that pushes us towards finding asolution or coming up with an idea that managed to elude us

before that moment.Benefit #4 Failure can help you to confront fear head on.

For many of us, failure is our greatest fear. So once weve allowedourselves to fail repeatedly, the fear doesnt seem quite so

powerful.


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PROMINENT EXAMPLE

OF FAILURE


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Most people know that Abe Lincoln was a tall imposing figurestanding at 64, he was synonymous for wearing a black top hatand he fought for the abolition of slavery in America. What youmay not all know and what I learned from reading about him washis impressive character and the substance of the man. So whatcan we learn about the man from the myths?

Rags to riches

Abraham Lincoln came from a very unremarkable background. Hegrew up in a log cabin with two other siblings in Kentucky and hewas the middle child. His parents moved to Indiana in 1817 where

the family squatted on public land. As was in keeping with thetime his older sister and younger brother died in his infancy. Hismother died at the age of 34 leaving the young Abraham Lincolndevastated. So a child who grew up in the backwoods of Kentuckyand who was relatively uneducated until he entered early adult life

went on to become the President of America.


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No matter how humble our beginnings or circumstances we can all achieve greatness.Surely Abraham Lincolns story epitomises the very essence of the now fabledAmerican Dream as his life was a real rags to riches story.

Abraham Lincoln Portrait2. If at first you dont succeed.. Abraham Lincoln failed a lotduring his career. A famous quote that Lincoln used was: My great concern is notwhether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. Clearly Lincolnwas not content with what others perceived as his failures.

Here is a list of some of those failures or setbacks he had in his personal and businesslife:

Lost job, 1832

Failed in business, 1833

Sweetheart (Ann Rutledge) died, 1835

Had nervous breakdown, 1836

Defeated for nomination for Congress, 1843

Lost renomination to Congress, 1848Defeated for Senate, 1854

Defeated for nomination for Vice-President, 1856

Again defeated for Senate, 1858

Elected President, 1861


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Modern positive psychology would tell us to that there is no suchthing as failure but rather just experiences. These experiences canbe internalised by us as either successes or failures. Clearly likemost successful people in business or politics he was able to use

and interpret these experiences in a way that supported hisdevelopment and ultimately lead to him becoming the 16thPresident of America on March 4th 1861. As Thomas Edison oncesaid: I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won'twork.

Relating this back to my own life and work experiences inrecruitment, professionals come to me a lot looking for advice onchanging their job. At first they may not have the requisiteinterview skills to get the job they are looking for even though Ihelp them prepare for it doing mock interviews, coaching and

offering feedback. However, even after this initial coaching,professionals dont always perform at their best in their firstformal interview. This is often due to confidence and practice.However, it can be the case that with each interview failure youcan actually get closer to securing your ideal job? If at first youdont succeed


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Most of us would assume that if we dont like someone or if we dont geton well with them than we try to alienate them or certainly keep them atarms length. However, this didnt apply to Abraham Lincoln. He did theopposite in his career when he most famously appointed many of hisrivals into his cabinet and sought their counsel on important issues.

The lesson that I have taken from this professionally is that it is reallyimportant to get all the major stakeholders bought into a project. Thisoften means engaging with not only your perceived allies or the peopleon your team who you easily associate with. In fact, it is probably moreimportant to involve your enemies in the process. In other words bringthe people who you dont always see eye to eye with inside the tent.Seek out their opinions and thoughts. Actively involve them in theproject. In so doing you will be surprised at their invaluable insights andalso how invested they become in the project or process.

In the above I have mentioned just 3 lessons that we can all take fromAbraham Lincoln. These are lessons that we can apply to our own livesboth personally and professionally. The remarkable thing is that I couldhave added another 6 or 7 life lessons that we could all have learned fromAbe. To name but a few Abraham Lincoln loved life, his family and wascommitted to lifelong learning and personal development.


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THANKS YOU

The Importance of Failure in Our Careers

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