Last Updated on February 29, 2024
Good title right? Now I’m not trying to insult you, so please allow me to explain what I mean.
Mistakes are awesome. They allow us to learn. If you’re not making them, you’re not living. As humans we’re not perfect. To be perfectly honest, we’re far from it. Learning new things and going through new experiences allows us to grow.
As kids we often ignore what our parents say. “Don’t do X, because Y will happen.” We don’t believe them, and ignore their advice. Then, when we’re trying to be quote on quote “rebellious,” we learn the hard way. I think almost every kid has experienced this. They don’t want to listen to their parents’ advice, and end up making mistakes. The, “I told you so,” tagline stings the most.
Today I would like to share some thoughts on failure and mistakes. The goal of this article is for you to overcome the fear of making mistakes and not to beat yourself up about them.
You must learn to overcome the fear of failure
Failure sucks. It’s not fun, easy, or a smooth ride. When we fail, we’re essentially facing a huge opponent. That opponent wins every time we feel sadness or regret about our mistakes. The only way we can defeat our opponent is to learn new things from our failure.
Sit down and take some time to deeply think about what just happened. I don’t care what your situation is, it’s not the end of the world. Somewhere in the world right now, somebody has it way worse than you. So feeling sorry for yourself is silly.
I used to do this whenever I failed in something. Poor me. I didin’t get this, I didn’t do that, blah blah blah. Trying to change the past isn’t going to help you in the future. You’ve got to look ahead and brush off your shoulders. Take a moment to deconstruct what caused that mistake, what you’ve learned because of that mistake, and how you can avoid it in the future. Simple as that.
Making mistakes to grow
You should be constantly trying new things and making mistakes. This is the best way to learn. Now I’m not advocating doing illogical things and just being plain stupid. What I’m trying to get at is that you shouldn’t be afraid to try something new, even if you might fail. I see so many people trying to play it safe in life, it’s quite disturbing.
I would like to share some very powerful lyrics. If you’re a frequent reader of this blog, you’ve probably read my bio, which mentions that I’m a big fan of progressive house music. Recently a song called ‘Never Say Goodbye’ came out. It’s by Hardwell & Dyro featuring Bright Lights. Feel free to check it out.
I find the lyrics of this song highly powerful. The first two lines resonate with me on levels I cannot describe.
“You’ll never fly if you’re too scared of the heights,
you’ll never live if you’re just too scared to die.”
Now take a moment to deeply think about this. .
“You’ll never fly if you’re too scared of the heights.”
This is 100% true. No matter what you’re doing in your life.
Let’s apply this to failure.
If you’re too scared of heights, a.k.a. failure, you’ll never fly, a.k.a. succeed.
“You’ll never live if you’re too scared to die.”
This is such a powerful line… Just read it over and over again. Playing it safe and not taking risks in your life is the dumbest thing one could do for their well-being. This video game we call reality will end. When it does, are you going to be happy with the way you played it?
They say when you die, your life flashes right before your eyes. Are you going to be happy with seeing flashes of yourself playing it ‘safe’ a.k.a. sitting on the couch and watching mindless programming? I hope not.
Check out this inspirational video from Bill Hicks.
Get comfortable with making mistakes
Don’t punish yourself. Comfort is important when you’ve made a mistake.
“Ok, I’ve made a mistake. What can I do now to make my life better from it?”
This is the exact question you should be asking yourself. You must cherish that mistake like it’s the most precious thing in the world. Because if you think about it, you actually learned something people never will.
You can now become an expert from that failure.
How?
You’ve tried something that didn’t work. People whom are trying to do the same thing will have to make the same mistake you’ve made in order to learn. You telling people about your mistakes makes you look wiser in their eyes.
Inspiration
Let’s take a look at some quotes left by wise people.
“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake.” – Confucius
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Alva Edison
“Who has never tasted what is bitter does not know what is sweet.” – German proverb
“People don’t fail, they give up.” – Unknown Source
“No man is ever whipped until he quits in his own mind.” – Napoleon Hill
Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” – Henry Ford
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
“You can fail so very often. But you are not a failure until you give up.” – Unknown Source
“Failure is nature’s plan to prepare you for great responsibilities.” – Napoleon Hill
I hope this article has helped you. Always remember that nobody is perfect. Trial and error are your best friends. Try to apply the principles mentioned in your life. You don’t have to make any drastic changes, just train yourself to take tiny steps and eventually failure won’t master you. You will master it.