How to Fail Forward in Your Life

Much is written about success and failure each day. Now for the rest of the story –failure often precedes success. How many times should you accept failure? The answer is as individual as you are.

Have you heard of Thomas Watson? As a young door-to-door salesman, he went into a pub to have a drink to celebrate a successful sale. While in the pub his horse and buggy, with all the company’s equipment, was stolen. He was immediately fired.

Watson then opened a butcher shop in Buffalo New York. It failed soon after leaving him with no job and no money. Eventually, he co-founded one of the most successful companies in history, IBM.

Let’s look at a few people who failed forward into success.

Failures Turned into Success

Everyone has heard how Thomas Edison had 10,000 failures before succeeding with the electric light bulb. In his youth he was told by teachers he was “too stupid to learn anything”. He went on to hold more than a thousand patents. He showed them!

Did you know that James Dyson created 5,126 failed prototypes before his vacuum succeeded? Dyson is worth more than $4.5b today.

How about Sylvester Stallone being rejected 1500 times trying to sell his script and himself as Rocky. This famous and successful film and actor went on to spawn seven sequels, raking in $1.7b!

Then there is Abraham Lincoln. His failures were many and well documented. After serving at the rank of private, he later became a self-taught lawyer. Lincoln rose to the highest office in the land as Commander in Chief of the military and President of the United States.

Steppingstones to Success

The old saying that failures are stepping stones to success could not be truer. Every person experiences failure in their life. It’s what you do on the other side of failure that makes the difference.

What would life be without the ability to learn from our failures? Use the seeds of failure to grow future success.

“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill

Do not become risk-averse. To do so will doom you to a mediocre life.

“Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.” - Robert T. Kiyosaki

As the old saying goes, “to err is human, to forgive divine.” To fail is human, and to forgive oneself for failing is a requirement to succeed. All one must do to forgive themselves is to see failure moving them toward what they want. Keep stumbling forward while enjoying the journey!

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill

“We are all failures - at least the best of us are.” - J.M. Barrie

Those who succeed don’t give up. They continue to push forward and move under, over, or around any obstacles in their way. It takes tenacity and faith to not give up or give in.

“Winners never quit, and quitters never win.” – Vince Lombardi

“There is no failure except in no longer trying.” – Elbert Hubbard

A common trait in successful people is courage. The courage to take the risk. The courage to turn a deaf ear to the naysayers. The courage to see it through to the end.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

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I challenge you to take the following quote to heart:

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” - Denis Waitley

Never let failure deter you from living an amazing life. Live out this final quote in your heart!

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” - Robert F. Kennedy