Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Samuel Beckett
Fail forward — I don’t know about you, but learning how to fail successfully is tough for me. That’s why I’m sharing a second post about it. In general, I’m a retreater, not a returner. When something doesn’t work out, I try to shrug it off, but that doesn’t always work very well. Often, rather than trying again and courting failure, I’ll just back off.
But guess what? I’m changing! With great advice from my mentor Dr. Rob Gilbert* about seeing losing as learning and using it as a form of course correction, I’m getting better at this vital skill. Reframing my attitude and approach about failure has been huge for me.
Here’s what Carl Jung said about failure in Modern Man in Search of a Soul: “The psychotherapist learns little or nothing from his successes. They mainly confirm him in his mistakes, while his failures, on the other hand, are priceless experiences in that they not only open up the way to a deeper truth, but force him to change his views and methods.”
And here’s what the writer Sherwood Anderson said in a letter: “I would like you to comprehend freely that what is to be got at to make the air sweet, the ground good under your feet, can only be got at by failure, trial, again and again and again failure.”
Failing your way to success: there’s something liberating about the whole idea, isn’t there? If we can see failure as feedback, the path to a “deeper truth,” and an invitation to rethink our approach, then it becomes a priceless tool we can use to mine for gold. Any other creative takes on failure you’ve come across? I’d love to hear them as we all write on!
*. Check out Dr. Rob Gilbert’s fabulous Success Hotline at 973-743-4690!
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