According to studies, the average American works about 47 hours a week, which means it’s almost an entire day beyond the typical workweek. The thought of it is dreadful enough, not to mention the added stress that most of us have to deal with every day. Our brain is wired to react more strongly to negative news compared to positive information. That is why stressful days and failures can be so hard for us to forget.
But career experts say that failing is a crucial part of success. They say that we must look at failure as a part of the process of growth. We must be willing to get out of our comfort zone and not be afraid to try new things. That is why in this article, we are going to teach you how to succeed at failing. For example, you can reflect on the life story of these famous presential losers and find out how they made other significant contributions to the world.
Let Yourself Feel the Flop
Most of the time, the most challenging part of failing is dealing with the unpleasant feelings that come with it. Some may feel embarrassed, while some may get angry or put the blame on other people. Well, according to experts, in order for you to easily accept your failure, you have to own everything that you’re feeling. Do not bottle it up, and try to be assertive about it. If you do not think that way, you are not a robot.
Learn how to work your way through your emotions and try to look at things more logically. You can ask yourself if you made the best decision based on the information you had during that time or if you considered somebody’s feelings or opinions about it. These questions can help you put your failure in perspective and make you understand things a little bit better.
Avoid Negative Self-Talk
As we mentioned earlier, failures happen when you take risks. These risks are something many people do not even attempt to do because they are afraid to fail. But you need to remind yourself that sometimes, you need to take a chance to know if you’re going to fail or succeed. In order to achieve failure, you need to recognize what you’ve done, regardless of the outcome. When you do this, chances are it can lessen any judgmental thoughts you have because you allow yourself to step back and see the actual outcome without any self-loathing.
Weigh in the Damage and Learn How to Own It
After you’re done sorting through your emotions, you may start to notice the damage that has been done. Ask yourself what can be saved, how it will affect others, and if it’s still going to matter to you after a month or two. Looking at the failure from different angles can help you understand how big or small it actually is. You might not believe it, but one good tactic in succeeding at failing is to take it to the extreme. This is because you might realize that what happened is not as bad as you think.
Aside from that, you can succeed at failing by taking responsibility for the failure and try not to blame others for it, even if it’s pretty challenging to do. According to experts, the sooner that you accept that you failed, the better. You can go through the process of moving on from your failure quickly if you accept the fact that you messed up.
Do Not Try to Conceal Your Failure
Most people tend to sweep their failures under the rug, do not be that kind of person. As we said earlier, you have to accept the fact that you failed, and a part of accepting is sharing your failure with other people who need to know, like your family and friends. Experts say that when you share your failures with others and openly communicate about them, you have a better chance of moving on from them quickly. Not only that, but it also demonstrates good behavior for everyone else because it is entirely okay to bring your own failures forward. Remember, the more failure you experience, the more lessons you learn from it.