The general feeling about failure is a negative one. The first response to an internet search on failure gives: “lack of success”, which emphasizes the negative feeling. However, when you search the internet for quotes about failure, the results speak more of a positive learning experience.
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Thomas Edison
In this quote, Thomas Edison connects the “lack of success” to a learning experience, and positively turns it to a success in finding out what does not work.
The movie “First Man” follows Neil Armstrong during the 60s in his journey to become the first human to walk on the moon. The movie highlights a couple of failures, and in some cases, disasters in preparation for the moon landing. In a conversation, Armstrong emphasizes the need to fail:
“We need to fail. We need to fail down here, so we don’t fail up there!”
Neil Armstrong
This way, he highlights that to succeed on the journey to the moon, learning is essential. Failure, as a means of learning, is inevitable. It is better to fail in a known environment than in a new space.
We can positively learn from our failures, as long as we do so consciously. Think for a moment about one of your recent failures: what have you learned from it, or can you still learn from it, and how will it help you in the future?