Learning Through Failure Career Development 2201

"Failure” is a Matter of Perspective It's almost impossible to go through life without experiencing some kind of failure. People who do so probably live so cautiously that they go nowhere. Put simply, they're not really living at all. We can choose to see failure as "the end of the world," or, we can look at failure as the incredible learning experience that it often is.

Look for the lesson… Every time we fail at something, we can choose to look for the lesson we're meant to learn. These lessons are very important; they're how we grow, and how we keep from making that same mistake again. Failures stop us only if we let them.

It's easy to find successful people who have experienced failure:

Albert Einstein Most of us take Einstein's name as synonymous with genius, but he didn't always show such promise. Einstein did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. Eventually, he was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. It might have taken him a bit longer, but most people would agree that he caught on pretty well in the end, winning the Nobel Prize and changing the face of modern physics.

Walter Disney Today Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies and theme parks around the world, but Walt Disney himself had a bit of a rough start. He was fired by a newspaper editor because, "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didn't last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He kept plugging along, however, and eventually found a recipe for success that worked.

Henry Ford While Ford is today known for his innovative assembly line and American-made cars, he wasn't an instant success. In fact, his early businesses failed and left him broke five times before he founded the successful Ford Motor Company. “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”

Michael Jordan is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. And yet, he was cut from his high school basketball team because his coach didn't think he had enough skill.

Dr. Seuss Dr Seuss was rejected a shocking 27 times before publishing his first book “And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.” This is a testament to the great adage “never give up” and that failure is only temporary. Even though Dr Seuss failed to get his book published over and over again, he pressed forward, and is still known today for his wise quotes. In fact, “Dr Seuss Quotes” gets searched on Google over 135,000 times per month.

Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin empire, is a high school dropout.

Imagine if Dr. Seuss had given up the 26th time his book was rejected. Most of us will stumble and fall in life. Doors will get slammed in our faces, and we might make some bad decisions. Imagine if Michael Jordan had given up on his dream to play basketball when he was cut from that team. Imagine if Dr. Seuss had given up the 26th time his book was rejected. Think of the opportunities you'll miss if you let your failures stop you.

Failure can also teach us things about ourselves that we would never have learned otherwise. For instance, failure can help you discover how strong a person you are. Failing at something can help you discover your truest friends, or help you find unexpected motivation to succeed. Often, valuable insights come only after a failure. Accepting and learning from those insights is key to succeeding in life.

The basic principals or philosophy of learning by failing are: Failing is not bad, it is an opportunity for personal growth and learning. Learning cannot begin until you fail. Learning cannot begin until you learn to fail. Failing first teaches you what you don't know and then helps you learn. Anything that has been done was once considered impossible because of failing.

Quotes to live by:

“Courage of Famous Failures” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydeyl0vXdP0