Five Lessons That Failure Teaches

07/11/2019

Do we highlight our trials, tribulations, and setbacks with the same amount of passion that we expend when celebrating our successes, Not so much. Success comes with a sweet-sounding ringtone, whereas failure is almost always in silent (and sometimes, desperate) mode.

Failure, no matter how much it hurts, is an important part of life. Failure is a great teacher. It's like nature's chisel which chips away at the excesses, strips down the ego, and molds and shapes us. There isn't a single person on earth who has never failed. However, failure is mostly taken in a negative light, notwithstanding that it helps us bounce back stronger and better prepared.

Here are five important lessons that failure teaches us.

1. Experience

This is perhaps the biggest lesson that failure teaches us. When we fail, we gain firsthand experience of the process that didn't work. That experience gives us perspectives to develop a thorough understanding of life. Besides, we become a little wiser with each failure and pass on the wisdom to others so they can benefit from it.

2. Knowledge

Legendaryinventor Thomas Alva Edison is believed to have famously said that he discovered1,000 ways to not make a light bulb. With each failure, we learn something and when we learn something, we gain valuable knowledge for success.

3. Resilience

The more we fail, the more resilient we become. Failure teaches us not to give up until we succeed. Success doesn't happen overnight. It can be attained only through an enormous amount of hard work and effort.

4. Growth

Life is designed to improve and grow. From the genetic fibers that make who we are as individuals, to the societal fabric on a larger scale, growth is ubiquitous. We grow as human beings when we fail. Failure teaches us to dig deeper into ourselves and find out who we are and what we really want.

5. Values 

We all have a unique value system that provides directions and helps us make choices. Our experiences with failure strengthen this system by having it reject what's contrary to our values. Failure also helps us create shared values and collective actions for improved team performance.

The thing to remember here is that most successful people face numerous obstacles at every step but it's the lessons learnt from those experiences that help them turn lemons into lemonade.