6 Ways to Turn Failure into Success
Sometimes even our best efforts yield disappointing results. When setbacks occur, it can be difficult to summon the energy to get up, dust ourselves off and try again. Whether you're an entrepreneur facing failure or an ordinary person dealing with setbacks, here's how to deal with failure and bounce back even stronger than before.
Honestly determine what went wrong. Mistakes are only a problem if you don't learn from them. Just about every successful person has endured some type of failure. The key is to turn that failure into a constructive lesson. Life is about learning to fail well. To do this, you have to look at the reasons behind your failure and use these realizations to spur growth.
Be kind to yourself. It's important to be careful of how you talk to yourself after a failure. Negative self-talk can be especially damaging when you are trying to convince yourself to give it one more try. It's ok to feel your feelings and let the pain of failure sting you for a little while. If you wallow in these negative feeling, however, you are much less likely to take any positive steps. Remember that negative self-talk leads to inaction, which is all failure needs to triumph. Try to remind yourself that even the most successful people have stumbled now and then. Consider reading up on some of these people to learn how they had to overcome mistakes and struggles to ultimately achieve their goals.
Get going. It's far better to do anything imperfectly than to do nothing perfectly. When it comes to overcoming failure, action is key. When we do nothing, we risk nothing - which is why the notion seems so attractive after a setback. Start your comeback by doing one or two small things. This can create a snowball effect that leads to inspired long-term action.
Set small, achievable goals. It's easy to get in the game when you're feeling especially motivated. It's a lot harder when you feel down and out. In most cases, regular effort is the key principle behind long-term success. Remind yourself that consistent action leads to consistent results. It's more important to make small efforts every single day than to make one huge leap every now and then.
Don't go it alone. Even if you are a hands-on entrepreneur who likes to control everything, you can still benefit from outside help. In some cases, this means outsourcing projects to qualified freelancers or contract professionals. In other instances, it means talking to a counselor to help you get over the grief of a recent failure, so you can get past your disappointment and give it another try.
Don't let your past determine your future. While you may be a product of your past, your future is still within your control. Just because you tried something without success doesn't mean you are a failure. Again, failure relies on inaction. Too often, we are afraid to talk about our failures, because we don't want them to define us. Address your past and then let it go, so you can get focused on what's ahead.
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