~ Amelia Earhart
What this quote means to entrepreneurial authors:
I’m about to write something that will make you think I’m crazy, but stay with me a moment, OK?
Failure doesn’t
actually exist.
Yes, things sometimes don’t go as planned. Yes, sometimes things don’t turn out the way we want them to. But, if you choose to look at each “failure” as a lesson, for you or those who follow you, then what happened isn’t really a failure, is it?
When you change your perspective of “failing” to that of “learning how not to do something” (to paraphrase Thomas Edison), then you see each moment of something not going the way you had planned or hoped as a motivation to do it better the next time. If, for some reason, there is no next time for you, then it can be seen as a challenge for those who will follow you.
Also, when you see “failure” as a lesson, you will find it easier to bypass the fear that often prevents us from doing something. Fear of failure stops so many of us in our tracks, keeping us from stepping up to the plate and at least attempting to hit that home run.
So give those dreams of yours a shot. Take the “failures” along the way for what they really are: lessons on how not to go for that dream.
That’s an excellent comment on “failure.” We need to learn from failure and from pain. That’s why they’re there. It brings to mind one of my favorite quotes–from Michael Jordan–“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”