He Who Does Not Fail Does Not Try

You fail, you try again, and you make mistakes, because this is the only way you can learn and reach your goals. There is no other way to learn than by trial and error.  Believing that you are better because you do not make mistakes is a foolish approach.

Success does not exist without a healthy dose of juggling and blunders. These mistakes show you the way you should not go, and that it is better to find an alternative or try other options.

What would have happened if Thomas Edison got tired of trying the hundredth time his light bulb did not work? Remember, he found success after 999 mistakes. He failed again and again, but instead of believing that he was unable to overcome his faults, he realized that all these faults were responsible for the final development of the artificial light we enjoy in our homes today. After a thousand attempts, he finally got it.

To fail, fall down and try again is how we achieve important things in life. Throwing in the towel after the first try ensures that we will not fail, but also that we will not achieve anything interesting. Which do you prefer?

“He who fails has less value as a person.”

Do you think this is true? I have heard this phrase many times! Unfortunately, perfectionism is the way of the world today, and there is little margin for error, little patience for the development of our most powerful creative tool: trial and error.

Since we were young, we have been evaluated. We have been pressured to compete and achieve 100% every time. Instead of being happy to discover that we are on the wrong track and have the opportunity to find a better one, we are punished for it. We may even hear judgments like “you are not good at this”, “you have always had problems with math, it’s not your thing,” “you keep doing a bad job, you will never learn.”

All these words reduce your self-esteem, and you slowly begin to believe that you should never make mistakes, that you should be competent in everything you do. And if you are not, you are not worth anything. You are a failure and you are doomed to a mediocre life.

When you read it in these words, it may sound like an exaggeration, since you probably have peace of mind when reading this article. But when our patience runs out, most of us have trouble controlling those decisions.

Our irrational thoughts make us suffer when something goes wrong, so we move away from our goals, projects and hopes. In this way, we save ourselves from making mistakes again, which would lead to our self-confidence failing again.

Be more tolerant and less demanding with yourself. Forget the fantasy of being perfect. It is human to fail, it is in our nature. This is normal and will always be the case.

There is no place written (except perhaps your mind) that failure makes you stupid, or what name they give you. And doing something good and being successful does not define you or determine your value.

You can either fail or remain inactive

You choose. If your fear of failure is so great that it prevents you from getting up and trying again, it will probably get worse in the long run. The idea that you are not worth anything, it will only get stronger, because you condemn yourself to the fate you fear so much,  to  not achieve your own objectives.

If you remain inactive, you will feel better in the short term, because you do not have to expose yourself to more failure, or relate to the criticism you receive from others, or the harsh judgment you receive from yourself.

You will save yourself from all this if you do not take the chance and fall. But you will also miss out on many other important things, such as learning, overcoming your obstacles and seeing yourself get better. And you will make it very difficult for yourself to experience the rewards of your efforts.

But beware! Taking this sensible and mature approach is not the same as avoiding mistakes without fear, especially if what you want with all your heart is to achieve something that is important to you.

Compliance is also an attitude that comes from fear, and all this will do is fool yourself. So make the decision to take a risk. Be brave and fail! It is not a bad thing that you have been taught to believe. It is actually an advantage that can help you learn and improve yourself. Nothing terrible will happen if you make a mistake, so do it!