How Failure Can Be Good In Achieving Career Success

The following is a guest post by Key Acanto. Her bio follows.

When we were young, most of us were programmed to believe that failure is scary. Failing made us believe that we are weak and we are not good enough. But the truth is, failure is everywhere. It could happen to anyone. If we fail, it doesn’t mean we will never have what it takes to succeed.

Specifically, as we go on pursuing our career, there will be situations where we fail. But that’s how life goes. We will face failure as we climb up our career ladder. But here’s why failure is a good thing when climbing up the career ladder.

They Give Relevant Knowledge

One of the best sources of first-hand knowledge is failures. With every failure we face, we become wiser and smarter. These are knowledge which we can use in our journey towards achieving success in our career.

The failures we face in our career can help us gain tiny bits of knowledge which give us an idea on how to do things the right way. Just like an inventor who failed a thousand times, failure lets us know the reasons behind our failure so in our next attempt there will be fewer mistakes and more chances of success.

As we keep on trying, we are getting closer to getting it right and we are moving towards our dreams.

They Serve As A Learning Experience

American inventor, Wilson Greatbatch, once said, “Failure is a learning experience, and the guy who has never failed has never done anything.”

Failure is inevitable. Even famous companies like Starbucks and Snapple have experienced failures several times. But still, they are successful. Why? Because they never let failure bring them down.  Instead they see it as a life-learning experience which they can utilize as they continue to grow their business.

We should think the same. Failure is not a dead-end. It can give us an alternative route to success. Just like a toddler who is learning to walk. The experience can be painful; we fall and we stumble several times. But then, these experiences teach us something. It teaches us to find the balance so we will be able to walk on our own.

In every journey we take, let’s think of it as 50% success and 100% learning. No matter how awkward or painful it can be, it is an experience which can guide us on our path towards career success.

They Help Develop Character

Failure is the biggest motivator. If we take a look at the world’s most successful people, one thing they have in common is that they never gave up. They use failure as a motivation to put in more effort until they can be successful. Failing builds up their character of “never say die”.

Without us noticing it, every bit of failure we have experienced is a large chunk that builds our character. Success is for people who are prepared for it. As we climb up the career ladder, we may trip and fall, but we become more determined and more disciplined to climb back up again.

Failure can build up our character like nothing else can. It’s like how constantly flowing water can create a new path and is formed into a river after a thousand years. These failures will consistently put us to test until we can build a strong and resilient character.

They Keep Us Grounded

No matter how successful we might be in our career, it is nothing if we don’t know how to look back to where we began. We experience failure so it can remind us to be humble.

Let’s think of ourselves as a mountain. No matter how high we become, we will always be grounded. We should keep our feet on the ground so we can help others climb up. After all, they are  the same people we will meet in times that we might fail.

Last Words

The only thing that can separate us from fulfilling our dreams is our belief. Failure can be one of  our biggest motivations to strive. If you look at it from a positive angle, failure can help us reach the top. So let’s learn to leverage failure and set up a solid plan to make our way to the top. Just as the cliché line goes, let’s fail upwards.

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Author’s Bio:

Key Acanto is an editor of scoopfed.com. She has been an editor of the blog site for almost 3 years now. Occasionally, she also writes contents for Bakkah. You can stay connected to her through Linkedin (keyacanto) and Twitter (@keyacanto).

What do Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey, and others have to say about failure?  Find out in the videos below!