In sport and business failing is an important part of success. Image: Jon Large http://www.flickr.com/photos/71894657@N00/
There’s no doubt that success takes discipline. It takes grit and determination and stick-to-itiveness.
But it takes more than that. It also takes years of learning and practice and refining one’s craft.
In that time a person intent on success is doing a lot of failing.
Golfers know this. So do tennis players. They know that for every ball they hit sweetly there are hundreds hacked into the rough or hit out of court.
For sportspeople, failure sucks.
A mishit ball can be – and often is – the difference between winning and losing.
It feels bad to lose.
At work failure sucks just as bad. Failure can cost you bonus income. It can even cost you your job.
It seems that no-one really wants to fail.
But unless you’re willing to fail you won’t take the risks needed for to succeed.
In any new endeavour – anything – you’re exposed to failure. Failure is the gateway to success.
Unless you’re willing to pass through that gateway you can’t expect to meet with success.
The trick then is to learn to fail without feeling like a failure.