I've never been so grateful for anything as much as the times I've fallen flat on my face.
- My A-levels were one long string of poor grades until my final exams.
- I have never had a job where I wasn't threatened with being fired within the first three weeks.
- I've been dumped so many times I've forgotten most of them.
My reaction?
- I never worked as hard as I did for my A-levels.
- I came into the office for as many weekends as was necessary until I couldn't be faulted at work.
- I still can't remember the guys!
All this made me much much stronger, and any successful person will tell you the exact same thing. One friend told me recently that he wished so much he'd failed earlier on in life so that he'd have been more ready for it when the time finally came. It is an inevitable fact of life.
And a wonderful, wonderful source of learning, growth and muscular development in the most important muscles we will ever need - LIFE MUSCLES. These are the muscles that make perseverance possible, provide us with the humility we need to overcome our fears, and bring our self-belief into sharper focus. Only the pain of failure can develop these muscles and give us the chance to become our fullest selves - the heroes that learn how to overcome.
Why we tell our children that pass and fail are two opposing forces we can only explain by our need for economy of expression.
The late Ken Robinson was an advocate of creativity in education. He did wonderful work promoting creativity in schools and businesses, but most of all, he introduced new ways of looking at old debates.
Click the pic to watch Ken Robinson's talk!
Embrace failure! It builds your most valuable muscles!