Failure: A learning episode
KEEP charging forward with a heart full of resolve, determination and ever-willing to learn and grow. Failure is the ever present risk, but refuse to park in despair due to the experience of actual failure or fear of possible failure.
Every day people are failing, learning, trying and failing again. It is better to try something and risk failure than to cower in fear and do nothing. See failure differently. See failure as a step to greatness and not a ladder to hell.
The Africa Cup of Nations finals held in February 2022 hang in the balance. The winner would be decided in the nail biting penalty shoot-outs. The teams were Egypt and Senegal. The deciding goal was now about to be kicked and who would be the candidate? The challenge was on Senegal’s best player Mr Sadio Mané.
That was a traumatic decision to make and responsibility to accept. In that all important game’s early stages Mané had been fouled and awarded a penalty that he missed. And now, he was going to take the risk and miss again? Many stepped forward to take the deciding penalty kick. Yes, he had failed about 100 minutes earlier, yet he dared take the challenge and scored. Never let failure arrest you or immobilise you. Use it as vital feedback.
On this beautiful road to greatness, never let success fool you or failure blind you to the potential that is you. How many times you fail does not matter so long as you are willing to get up, stand up, chin-up and keep moving even after your worst episode of failure.
You may lose a round or two as you box life, but that does not mean that you have lost the match. Stop taking yourself off the shelf because of an experience of failure. See failure as just a learning episode. Conceding goals does not mean that you will never win. See failure differently and you will have a different experience of life.
Frame
The way you frame any experience determines its meaning and its sting in your life. Do not frame failure as a fatality, but a necessary step to greatness.
Frame failure as a necessary step to greatness. José N. Harris once said: “There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad, and focus on the good.
Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don’t. Life is too short to be anything, but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living.”
Yes, get up and get busy with the business of living. Stop moaning about failures of the past and complaining as default-mode.
Act now
Take action because that is the only way you move towards greatness. Refuse to stand by and take action, risking failure. Get busy taking action instead of worrying about failure. Failure plus worry equals useless processing.
Stop pointing a dirty finger on those that have failed as social proof that failure is to be avoided. Think differently and process differently. Failure means act now with boldness. It means review, learn and take more action. Make it your mantra that you will “act now” even if you failed at some point.
Mr Og Mandino in his book, “The Greatest Salesman in the World”, advocates for success through relentless action when he asserts: “I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids.
“With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now. I will repeat these words again and again and again. I will walk where failures fear to walk. I will work when failures seek rest. I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labour of the lazy. I am not lazy.
“Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever.
“This is the time. This is the place. I am the person. Do not let credentials of failing delay you from taking action. Act now.”
Never, ever let success get to your head and never let failure get to your heart and stop you from taking action. It is only human and natural to feel disappointed when you fail.
When you failure do not get so disappointed that you are unwilling to try again because you are afraid that you may fail again. Worst still stop worrying about people and thinking they will laugh at you because you failed.
Stop living for a gallery that is not paying any fees to watch you, but waiting to comment and laugh. Receive the blows of failure with humility, but get up and be willing to throw another punch.
Do not waste your chances of bouncing back while negotiating with failure and its cousin fear.
Intentions
The road that does not lead to greatness is paved with intentions and barricaded with the fear of failure. Intentions alone do not mean much if you are unwilling get up, face failure and take another bite of action.
Do your calculations well. It is better to spend another year or two battling failure with action, than to hide forever because you were too embarrassed to accept that failure was an event.
Never make failure a permanent station. Do not ever make failure a person. Let it pass as an occurrence and lesson. You always pass through stations of failure on your way to success. Just because you failed once does not mean that you are a failure and you will never make it.
Learn
Face and experience failure, but never get immobilised. When you face failure and fail to learn from failure you would have squandered a precious opportunity for greatness.
Mr Thomas Alva Edison is reputed to have proclaimed after 10 000 failed attempts: “I have not failed, I have just found 10 000 ways that will work.”
Each failed attempt was a precious lesson and a direction maker. Always see failure as an experiment in greatness. That is intelligent deployment of failure. When you succeed, keep a clear head and learn. When you fail, manage your ego and learn even more.
Whatever happens in your situation always learn. You learn fastest when you dare take action. You learn slowest when you are unwilling to try because you fear failure.
Until
Keep moving ahead and trying. Till when ask? You keep failing until you succeed. Fail six times, but get up seven times. Keep reaching for greatness until you get it.
Each time you get up you will feel stronger. As long as you are still stretching and staring failure in the face you are on your way to greatness. When you can no longer dare fail, you are a failure.
Rise
Rise up and be counted among those who persevere despite failure. Rise and face your fears and take bold action. When you fail, rise again and again and again.
Everyday you feel afraid of failure, rise up and try. Every time you try and fail, rise up again and try some more.
Edge
Come to the edge even though the spaces around you are filled with fear and failure. Dare to come to the edge and you will fly. Mr Guillaume Apollinaire is a celebrated 20th Century French poet and playwright. His most popular and moving poem is entitled: “Come to the Edge”.
This poem has inspired generations of greatness and is also a call for you to come to the edge and dare failure.
Apollinaire’s poem (shall I call it tribute to failure) reads:
“Come to the edge,” he said.
“We can’t, we’re afraid!” they responded. “Come to the edge,” he said.
“We can’t, We will fall!” they responded. “Come to the edge,” he said.
And so they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew.”
Committed to your greatness.
◆ Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author, and a virtual, hybrid and in-person workshop facilitator. He is a cutting-edge strategy, team-building and organisation development facilitator and consultant. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: mkamwendo@gmail.com and His website is: www.miltonkamwendo.com