Everybody has a setback every once in a while, but it doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with you. In fact, failure can be an excellent opportunity to learn your own limitations and boundaries, and provide you with a chance to learn how to think outside the box. Unfortunately, we often taught that accepting failure means accepting that we are failures.
We begin to believe that we are not worthy of any kind of encouragement or positivity. And just because we are overwhelmed by the incredible emotions that come with the idea that we are worthless, we are not succeeding at something.
Define
The fact of the matter is that success is something that you need to define personally. Otherwise, you will find that you are far more inhibited by the expectations and interpretations of success that other people place on your shoulders. Nobody deserves to have their sense of self-worth defined by somebody else. That is a personal choice, and a significant thing for you to do in this sense is to actually sit down and consider what you would define as successful.
Accept
First of all, acceptance is the key. The first step to anything is to accept that it is happening and it is something in your life that you need to deal with. Staying in denial about anything can be a huge problem. If you are in denial about the way you feel when you experience a failure, then you are going to have a much harder time served to pass that obstacle. It’s okay for you to be upset that something didn’t go right. Don’t beat yourself up about it too long. But do accept that you feel unhappy about it and work through those feelings entirely.
Remember
The next thing you need to remember is never to identify yourself as a failure. Putting labels on yourself like this can be extremely difficult for you to overcome. You are not a failure because something went wrong. Nobody is ever a failure. However, we often get stuck and stop seeing the opportunities that are still around us to either make things right or to go in a new and even better direction.
Consider
This is when it is helpful to start to consider the situation from all angles. There is bound to be a way for you to benefit from the situation. Even if it isn’t the one that you are hoping it would be. Think about what you can learn from your failure and how you can grow from it. Think about what constructive things can be taken away from your failure and allow yourself to consider all options rather than feeling as if there are no other alternatives. There is always an option. Whether we can accept that option or not is a personal choice.
Understand
What is most important though, is to understand that failure is a common part of life. Nothing that is worthwhile happens easily. There’s always going to be something in the way. And as long as you are willing to face it head-on and see it objectively, then you will never be a failure. You will be successful who is capable of rising from the ashes.
