As a society, we’re really good at celebrating our successes, but we don’t talk nearly enough about our failures. Why does that matter? Our attitudes toward failure directly impact our ability to succeed in business, life and our relationships. As a successful business owner and entrepreneur, I’ve learned a lot about failure over the last 30-plus years. It’s taught me a great deal about myself, including where my strengths and weaknesses lie, and how I can use this knowledge to not only lift myself but others along the way.
I believe there are essentially two kinds of failure: healthy and unhealthy. An unhealthy failure is one you might have seen coming but didn’t do anything to stop. While you can’t always prevent this type of failure, you can control your response. There’s an old saying—giving up on your goal because of one setback is like slashing your other three tires because you got a flat.
Healthy failure, on the other hand, is a different mindset. Instead of being afraid to fail, you view failure as a learning experience and an opportunity to move ahead in a smarter way. Therefore you’re more willing to try different things, and less likely to give up if something doesn’t work out the first time around.