Is there anyone out there who has never failed at anything? If so, you probably should have had, just for the experience. I would be happy to give you a few, if you want, since I seem to have an abundance!
Failure used to devastate me. I felt like I wasn’t smart enough or good enough to get it right. I finally realized I was thinking about it all wrong. Have you heard the saying “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”? I’m now a believer and a stronger one at that! I have failed countless times, but I like to think I have learned something from it every time.
One of the most important lessons we can learn is that “The fear of failure is far more damaging than failure.” Fear can paralyze us. It can defeat us and, if we allow it to, cause us to give up totally.
If that happens, where does that leave you? You have lost your ability to move forward, lost the opportunity to learn from your mistakes and gained ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
So… what will it be? Will you take a chance? One thing is certain. You will either succeed, or you will fail. What I have learned is that it doesn’t define who I am. If I succeed, incredible! And if I fail, that’s incredible too! God has given me this one life and it is my choice (free will) to make the most of it and be a good steward of it. Do I WANT to fail? Of course not! But if I do, I hope I will always hitch up my bootstraps and try again.
Pray Unceasingly! (Karl Dingman, Milo Karhu and Kathy Wilson and others)
In His light,
Lois
To Reduce Your Fear of Failure, Redefine It
Rick Warren
“No matter how often honest people fall, they always get up again.” (Proverbs 24:16a TEV)
Never forget this truth: Failure probably won’t kill you.
We vastly exaggerate the effects of failure. We blow the prospects of failing all out of proportion. Failing is not the end of the world. The fear of failure is far more damaging than failure.
Proverbs 24:16 says, “No matter how often honest people fall, they always get up again” (TEV). Even good guys stumble. They make mistakes, blow it, and stub their toes.
Successful people are not people who never fail. They’re people who get up again and keep going. Successful people just don’t know how to quit.
Ever heard of these famous failures?
George Washington lost two-thirds of all the battles he fought. But he won the Revolutionary War and later became the first U.S. president.
Napoleon graduated 42nd in a class of 43. Then he went out and conquered Europe!
In 21 years Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs, but he struck out 1,330 times. He struck out nearly twice as often as he hit a home run.
The famous novelist John Creasey received 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books.
Rowland Hussey Macy failed seven times at retailing before starting Macy’s department store.
Great people are simply ordinary people who have an extraordinary amount of determination. They just keep on going. They realize they’re never a failure until they quit.
That’s how you reduce your fear of failure. You redefine it.
You don’t fail by not reaching a specific goal. Instead, failure is not having a goal. Failure is refusing to get back up again once you fall. It’s refusing to try.
On the first day of kindergarten, I got in the wrong line and then into the wrong classroom. Can you imagine me going home to my mom and dad and saying, “I’m a failure at education! This school thing just doesn’t work”? Of course not.
You keep going. If at first you don’t succeed, it’s no big deal. You’re never a failure until you give up.