Failure is a fact of life. Although often perceived as a bad thing, failure is a necessary part of building success. We simply cannot move forward and grown into more knowledge and successful people without first experiencing some form of failure. We have all experienced failure in one form or another through our lives. Although it is easy to use the analogy of falling and getting back up on your feet again, dealing with failure is not always so simple.

There is a wide range of feelings and emotions that can be associated with failure. When the failure in question is repeated or related to something, we truly desire it can be a devastating experience. Though it is not always easy to move past failure, there are steps we can take to improve our attitudes and outcomes when it comes to failure. This article will give you tips on how to deal with failure, move past tough feelings, and allow you to let failure help you be successful.

Failure and Feelings

A baby doesn’t get upset when they fall down learning to walk. But adults aren’t babies and we have complicated emotions. When we go after something we want and fail, we may feel anywhere from a little upset to absolutely devastated. Below are some tips to help you work through the tough emotions that you make experience when you fail.

  • Let yourself feel – there is no need to hold in what you are feeling. In part of learning to evaluate our failures and move through them, we need to allow ourselves to feel. If you are angry, disappointed, or sad, it is ok to feel it all. Don’t hold back. Allow yourself to let it all out. By accepting your feelings about your failure and allowing yourself to process them you may find it easier to move past fear of failure in the future.
  • Talk it out – just like allowing yourself to feel your emotions, it is also a good idea to talk through your failure with others. Either talking about how you feel about failure or talking about why you failed can be helpful. Outside input can help you identify areas in your life that are affecting your success. A trusted friend or life coach can help you process what went wrong. See our blog post on how to find a good life coach to find the perfect support person for you.
  • Give yourself time – failure and disappointment often go hand in hand. When we put ourselves out there and go all in on a project or business it can be tough to handle failure. Along with letting yourself feel what you need to feel you should also give yourself time. Allow yourself to process what happened. Although it is important to get back up and move forward through your failure, it is equally important to allow yourself a reset.
  • Make a plan – It is easy to feel self-doubt after you have experienced failure. But you cannot allow yourself to give up simply because you have failed. In order to help you get unstuck and move through failure it is a good idea to develop a plan. Rely on your support networks or a career coach to help get you back on track again.

Why Failure is Good for Success

Failure isn’t easy to deal with, but it can be a great thing for your success. With a little bit of perspective and a touch of optimism, it is easy to find the ways in which failure is good for success. If you fear failure you may not have ever thought about the ways failure is good for success, but the reasons do exist. Here are some great reasons why it is ok to not fear failure and allow it to help you become more successful.

  • It means you’re working – If you are failing, you are taking action. In order to fail you first have to allow yourself to be vulnerable and go after something you desire. Failure is a sign that you are on a path to doing the things you want to do and becoming successful. If you aren’t failing, you may not be thinking big enough.
  • You can learn from it – always try to fail forward. Using our tips on dealing with failure you can evaluate what happened. Take what you have learned from your failures and apply that knowledge to what you do moving forward. If you aren’t learning from your failures, you turn the disappointment of failure into a true problem. You can learn practical skills and gain personal insight from allowing failure to make your more successful.
  • It can help build confidence – although this tip sounds counter-intuitive, failure can help you be more confident moving forward. If you learn from your failures, you become armed with knowledge. Use this to your advantage when taking on new ventures and go about them with confidence.

Don’t Get Stuck

Learning to deal with failure takes some practice and introspection. Although it isn’t always easy to accept our failures if we learn from them, our failures can serve us well in the future. If we don’t work through our failures with the help of our support systems, they may lead us to a fear of failure and self-sabotaging belief systems.

If you are feeling stuck and not sure how to break through your negative thoughts around failure it may be a good idea to talk to a life coach. Additionally, you can check out our great blog post “Self Sabotaging Behaviour & Thoughts” What Causes It And How To Rise Above It”.

Failure doesn’t have to mean that your dreams are over. Arm yourself with the knowledge and confidence you can gain from failure and use it to your advantage. Remember that you can only fail if you are moving forward. Although failure can be hard to swallow it simply means that you are making progress. Don’t be afraid to fail and you are sure to succeed.