How to transform your failure into success

It is true that most people aspire to attain success in life. But for the most part, their path to glory is frustratingly brought to a halt by one setback after another. They have tried to make things work, but end up giving up because their effort did not match their expected outcome. Does this make a person a failure?

On the contrary, it is not when you have a go at something that did not yield the expected result that makes you a failure. It is when you stop trying. Or to use the popular term - quitting.

Before you can fully understand the concept of failure and the underlying causes, you need to become aware of a powerful emotion that is strongly attached to failure - your attitude. It is a part of who you are. It forms the make up of your emotions. Attitude is also aligned with your feelings, your words, which in turn enables you to respond negatively or positively to a given set of circumstances or people.

In addition, you emotions are stronger than logic and because your emotions are intrinsically linked to the way you react to events, it is a stronger force that you are potentially likely to struggle with.

According to Napoleon Hill, he said that “Success requires no explanation. And failure permits no alibis”>. In line with this reasoning, there are several types of emotions linked to failure – fear, pessimism, worry, cowardice, lack of self confidence and other vices such as laziness, procrastination, greediness and in innate unwillingness to change. Remember success is a choice. So what is holding you back?

No one likes to be labelled a failure. So, rather than try and make an effort to succeed, some people would rather play it safe. Such people don’t like to take risks. They worry about the consequences of their end result. They can only see one outcome – failure.

And there are those who have tried in the past and are afraid to try again. They are excellent starters, but poor finishers. They are the people who make up a millions excuses of why something will not work. Or they get discouraged when they hear or read about the stories of people who have suffered a similar fate as theirs. They use this as a self pitying exercise to justify the reason why they shouldn’t try again. But you can get out of this failure mindset.

Having said this, it is instructive to note that the only person who can determine whether you are a failure is YOU. The word “failure” is a statement of the mind. No one should have the right to say you are a failure. Why? It is because failure is not a permanent marker.

Failure may be inevitable, but it is not absolute - neither is success. Your external circumstance is not a barrier to success. Hence, nothing outside you can limit you because it is who you are that will make you.

Observably, the failure syndrome which grew into an epidemic started with the school system. From child hood, a student is given a series of test and exams and they are assessed on their competency.

These students are judged on what they have been taught and they are expected to demonstrate this learning by recording a high pass score in the tests or exams.

What these exams or tests do not take into account is the important fact that students learn in different ways (i.e. auditory, visual and kinetic). Whilst these different styles may have been accommodated in the classroom through differentiation, the case is not necessarily the same during exams.

What you need to understand though is that almost every successful business person has failed at least more than twice before they succeeded. Interestingly, some of these successful people were not even top of the class in school. Some were even written off in school by their peers and viewed by the school establishment as someone who will not make it in life. But these people did not let their “failure” in school to hold them back.

These successful people knew that it was failure that stood between their dreams and success. It was the prize they had to pay to achieve success. So instead of running away from failure, give your self permission to fail. Learn from it because it is the fertilizer that helps you to grow your success.

Going back to your emotions, don’t allow negative thoughts of failure enter your heart. You will unwittingly grant fear the permission to produce paralysis and stop you from taking action.It will kill your self esteem and seriously hinder your self development.

As a result, motivation leaves you and depression and passive inactivity takes permanent residence in your heart. It causes you to think of yourself as a permanent failure. It steals your dreams and blocks out every opportunity that you would otherwise have seen and acted upon.

Once you know what your problem is, label it. If it has a name such as laziness, procrastination, worry, fear, etc, you have the power to control and overcome what you define. It means you can deal with it and use it to restructure your life. Start putting order into your life and take a bold step on your path to success.

If you are good with people, use your skills to provide a service oriented business. Or, if you prefer, you can opt to work from home Either way, be your own boss and start to reap the fruits of success.

Remember, do what you are passionate about such that when your business gets off the ground and it is growing, your labour won't seem like work anymore since its something you enjoy doing. The world is your oyster. You are not a failure, stop kicking yourself. Go after your dreams.

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