Why You Should Embrace Failure

There is not one successful person in the entire world who has not experienced failure. By that logic, failure is at some point necessary in order to succeed, which turns the commonly-held concept of success on its head.

What many “get rich quick” schemers don’t want you to know is that whilst success can be ‘instant’ in a sense, it is always built upon solid foundations that took years to build.

The Jeffrey Archer School of Success

If you are not familiar with his work, Jeffrey Archer is an English author, former politician, and convicted criminal (I threw that one in there for dramatic effect, but it is true!).

His books have featured in the New York Times bestsellers list, and some have been adapted for television. So you can consider him to have been pretty damn successful in his time.

4 Success Secrets Of Infamous British Author, Jeffrey Archer, says the following:

Archer’s first book — Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less — was rejected by 13 publishers before being accepted. The 14th gave him a £3000 advance.

Archer was an overnight success with his first book – after he had been rejected by 13 other publishers.

Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek, which most of you are probably familiar with, was turned down by 26 out of 27 publishers.

I’m sure you’re getting the message now – both of these highly successful people failed time and time again in their efforts before hitting the jackpot.

Failure Will Tear Your Best Laid Plans Apart

If there was only one thing you could prepare yourself for when it came to your online business, it would be failure. That single moment when your “perfect” plan gets torn to pieces by the jaws of reality.

We’ve all been there. The difference between success and failure is simply whether you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start again, or hold up the white flag and surrender.

Make no mistake – the harsh reality of failure is extremely tough to overcome. If you have even a chink in your armor of confidence then failure will work its way in. Failure preys on self-doubt.

What failure doesn’t want you to know is that it is just part of the process. That ultimately, it is completely powerless if you employ the assets of time, persistence, and ability.

Failure is Your Strongest Weapon

Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned ~ Mark Twain

Now here’s the real scoop: failure is a good thing. I don’t even want you to think of it as a necessary evil on the path to success (although that is a great attitude to have). You can do even better than that.

Failure is the best teacher I have ever had. Failure is when you realize what you thought would work, doesn’t. Which then means that you should try something else. Often, failure is a huge blazing sign, pointing you in the right direction.

A person who has been taught how to do something well, but has none of the experience as to the trial and error that led to the success, is walking on a tightrope. As I mentioned at the start of this article, true success is built upon solid foundations. The cement in those foundations is failure – our greatest learning tool.

Embrace Failure and You Embrace Success

The moment you relieve yourself of the fear of failure is the moment that success is all but guaranteed. I don’t know when success may come for you, but with such a mindset, it is just a matter of time.

I know that I am going to fail at times. But I embrace and welcome it. And suddenly, it is no longer a frightening prospect. It is an opportunity to learn and increase my chances of long-term success. Can you say the same?

Photo Credit: Brett Jordan