You don’t have to fail

4th August 2013

Amidst a lot of inspirational discourse is a common backbone: that failure is a stepping stone to success. It’s been said tonnes of times and is an integral part of every ’successful’ story: the thousand’s of times that I failed is the reason that I succeed. And I appreciate the sentiment; failure is not an end, but a hiccup, but it only teaches you one thing: what not to do.

Failure teaches us the ability to pick ourselves back up and go again, and the more you do that the easier your recovery will get. But I’m also seeing people focus on failure as if it is a key ingredient. As if without failure, any success is out of reach. It’s related to the strange fixation on people who drop out of college, but that’s another article.

It’s true failure shouldn’t be a deterant, but it is as true that failure is a side effect, not a central goal. You still do everything you can to prevent failure, because failure is a set back. You need to stop and recouperate. Often you need to start again. And most importantly, you have not added to your recipe for success, simply subtracted from it.

Failure does not increase your chances of succeeding the next time. You know what does: success.