MM: Kick Out The Fear of Failure; Kick Butt

Most of the time these worries can be attributed to only one thing: my fear of failure. Each worry and fear has one thing in common, the fear of the possibility of failure. For as long as I can remember, I simply haven’t wanted to be labeled as a failure.

Several years ago, I learned a valuable lesson—there is no need to worry about failure. It may be incredibly hard to live according to this truth, but it’s important to accept failure simply for what it is: an inevitable challenge that we have to face in life. Every failure helps us become who we are today. While it may be painful and knock you down in the short run, in the long run, failure helps us to do better, avoid similar mistakes, and opens new possibilities and chances. The attempt to avoid failure is one of the biggest failures of all, the irreversible mistake of not having tried at all.

At the end of life, no one wants to worry about “what could have happened”, if we would’ve tried. I for one don’t want to reflect on life and notice all the opportunities I’ve missed or the amazing things I would have experienced, just because I was worrying about the possibility of failing. The decision between success and failure often lies beyond your own control, and every one of us is going to fail every once in a while, so why worry about it?

Some of the most famous failures are:

Abraham Lincoln lost his job (1832), failed in business (1833) and was defeated in eight elections (1838 – 1858)

Thomas Edison’s teacher told him he was “too stupid to learn anything”. Also, he stated that he “discovered six thousand ways that won’t work”, while developing the light bulb.

Walt Disney was fired, as his boss found he “lacked imagination”. Later, MGM studios told him that the idea of Mickey Mouse would not work; a giant mouse would scare women.

The Beatles were turned down by their recording company telling them that “guitar music is on its way out”.

Michael Jordan was cut from the high-school basketball team as he was “lacking skill”.

Only the failures these successful people had to experience and the mistakes they made in their lives allowed them to become the geniuses, inventors, and idols they have become. Those that never failed in life are the ones that no one remembers today, the ones that never won because they never tried.

Let’s face it, every failure is—when considered in an unemotional context—just a realization that provides us with the knowledge on what didn’t work. So this week, what will you do about your fear of failure? Kick it to the curb and kick butt in the process.