Fail Again, Fail Better

Something good always come out of failure. I currently work in a company where our sun-rising product is a result of a failed business bid. It was the past failures and disappointments during attempts to take another failed product to market that created the new Remita product that everyone now enjoys. Every wrong attempt discarded is an opportunity to move forward. Failure is the tuition we pay in order to succeed and those who are not ready to pay the fees definitely will not qualify to write the examination that is designed to take them to the next level of success.

In order to succeed, your desire for success must be greater than your fear of failures. Last Sunday, I watched the Super Eagles muscle out the Elephants of Cote d’ivoire that is revered as the “golden generation of African football” in the ongoing African Cup of Nations Football tournament to the amazement of all the cynics. Many times, the fear of failure could even be the tonic we need to pursue our dreams vigorously. Stephen Keshi, coach of the team at the post match media conference said “only 20% of Nigerians believed we could win the match, now that is history”. This is a lesson that you can only win when you make up your mind to stay in the game regardless of the opposition .The possibility that we may fail in a venture should not deter us from pursuing the cause we believe to be just.

Don’t be afraid to fail. You eventually win when you are not afraid to lose. Do you remember the four lepers in the Bible? They said “if we perish, so be it” but they never perished. Queen Esther decided to go to the king against the acceptable tradition and said “if I perish, so be it”; she never perished. How about the four Hebrew boys that were thrown into the furnace? They came out alive! It is okay to fail. The only people who never fail are those who never tried anything. Those who avoid failures in life end up becoming nothing in life. You must think of failure and defeat as the springboards to new achievements or to the next level of accomplishment.

Don’t allow your passion to be lost within the ocean of failures; you will definitely swim to the other side. Yes, you are right if you say, am justified to give up now after so many failed attempts. Your defeat is not the worst of failures, not to try again is the real failure. I assure you that if you try again this last time, you are more likely to succeed. The darkest hours are the ones closest to daybreak. No matter, try again. My concern right now is not your past failures but the fact that you need not be content with your failure. No one ever won a chess game by betting on each move. Sometimes you have to move backward to get a step forward. Downfalls often times launches individuals to greater heights.

You must recognize failure as one of the pathways to accomplishment. Don’t blame anyone for your failures, not even yourself. Believe me; your failures are indirectly making contributions into your success account. You can actually succeed if you learn from your past failures. You can’t buy the experience and lessons from failure; you only need to heed them. Failing is an opportunity to succeed by beginning again more intelligently.

What are you going to do now?