Our Thoughts

Failing forward to success

Posted by Patrick Manyanza on May 30 2013

The concept of failing forward is based on the fact that, we all have to go through a learning curve where things don't really work out at first to get towards the success we want. Thomas Watson the founder of the IBM Corporation summed it up best when he said, "The key to success is massive failure." This may sound strange when you first hear it but the point is that, great lessons for advancement and meaningful accomplishments are hidden behind the failures we experience.

While some people may succeed with little failure, the majority accumulate success wisdom by learning from their failures, which propels them to success. With everything coming to our lives for a reason, there is an opportunity for learning every time we fail. Our perception of failure as defeat needs to change and become replaced with an understanding that, we cannot fail in life, we can only learn from our failure and grow. Understand that failure is a necessary process that we have to go through that opens up the opportunity for learning provided your vision is clear.

"The only way you can get ahead is to fail early, fail often, and fail forward."
John Maxwell, Leadership Expert & Author

Every dream that anyone has ever achieved, came as a result of dedication to a process. In other words, having a tunnel vision and staying focused to not let failure be a distraction is very important. In order to achieve our dreams, we must embrace adversity and make failure a regular part of our lives. If we are not facing a lot of adversity, then chances are we are not moving forward at a rapid pace. Adversity can actually make us better if we don't let it make us bitter. Most good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure.

Many successful people failed a number of times, yet they never regarded themselves as failures. In the face of adversity, rejection, and failings, they continued believing in themselves and their dreams and refused to consider themselves failures. Such people choose to develop the right attitude and perception about failure that leads them to achieving. When achievers fail, they see it as a momentary event, not a lifelong epidemic. When we decide to fail forward, the gift is that we begin to develop and maximize our strengths.

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