None of us likes to fail, yet we all know in our minds and hearts that we can’t truly learn without it. J.K. Rowling was mid-divorce and, in her words, “as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless,” when someone finally decided to publish her book about a boy wizard. Steve Jobs was originally fired from his own company. Albert Einstein got expelled from school. If you accept that we all fail sometimes, you can turn it into something worthwhile for yourself.
- Have the right attitude. If you allow failure to derail you or think of it as pointing out a character flaw, you’ll continue feeling stuck in a quagmire of your own making. Rather than looking at failure as a reflection of your lack of ability, look at it as an opportunity for growth. So rather than throwing yourself a pity party, view it as a chance to show a positive attitude, which you can control. Anything worth achieving comes through repeated practice, reexamination and effort.
- Remember to focus on the process. If we only look at the results, we’ll have a skewed view of success. Say you have a goal to lose 20 pounds in six months and you only lose ten. Have you failed? Perhaps you didn’t meet your exact goal, but if the process got you exercising regularly and eating more mindfully and healthily, you managed to instill positive habits that will eventually help you lose the rest of that weight, or find a new definition of “healthy.” You can also look back and see what you might do differently for the next six months. Focusing on each step allows you to be more mindful as well, a key to success.
- Understand what you can and cannot control. Go back to the Serenity Prayer: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Most of us rarely have as much control as we’d like; too many outside circumstances exist to control all the outcomes. Yet, as referenced above, we all have the ability to control how we react to failure. Our reactions define how far we’ll go forward and whether we’ll learn from our mistakes or not. Knowing this allows us to step back, rethink, make changes and possibly redefine our definition of success (and failure).
The only true failure comes from doing nothing. Even doing something imperfectly allows us the opportunity to stop and see where we can adjust and move forward. To find success in your health and wellness, visit the medical staffing experts at Medical Professionals.
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