3 Ways Leaders Endure Failure…

Childhood behavioral studies have shown us that a child only learns to walk when they have failed to walk. Without the failure of falling they will never learn how to gain their balance. Now, we could try to keep them from failure and tell a child over and over how the muscle dexterity works, how to move the knee cap in the proper direction, etc… but that would not make sense to them? A child learns to walk because they are learning how not to walk. After many lessons on how not to walk they eventually begin to understand how to walk. It is in their failure that they learn how to succeed.

We need to get perspective on our failure. Failure is not fatal unless we allow it to be. Failure is freeing, if we view it the right way. It is our response to failure that determines our ability to succeed. We can be afraid of failure or embrace failure depending on where our focus is. If we focus on the negative, concerning failure, we will run from it. However, if we view failure in a positive way, we will learn more from it than we think. It’s all about focus and perspective. When you fail, understand that your outlook must get back into focus. We have to see failure as a tool that can get us to where we need to be. So let your outlook about failure change from a negative to a positive. Get into focus and understand that failure can be the greatest thing that has happened to you. Don’t allow failure to knock you down and keep you from enduring on. When failure tempts us to quit we must remain steadfast. Philosopher Thomas Carlyle said, “Endurance is patience concentrated.”

The ability to “hang in there” is one of the toughest yet rewarding traits to have. Our impatience can cause us to plow ahead and damage what could have been if we had only been more patient. It is like the Captain who ran too far ahead of the Calvary and was mistaken for the enemy, it didn’t turn out too well for him! Don’t rush your life. Make sure you stay the course. Just because you are not seeing results immediately does not mean it is not working! All things will unfold in time!

How do you endure when failure has occurred?

1. Stay Determined

You do not get to the top without determination. You do not climb a significant mountain without an unwavering sense of commitment to the journey. Only climbing when you “feel like it” will never take you to the heights. You only get to the top by hard work and endurance. “Feeling like it” may get you started but it won’t keep you going. You have to determine within yourself that NOTHING will hold you back from your dream to make it to the top. Too many people give up short of their dreams because the terrain gets too rough for them. When faced with obstacles and challenges they are tempted to quit. But in order to reach the top we have to fight through the set-backs and unforeseen challenges. Always remember this…you cannot climb a smooth mountain. It is the rocky places that we can use to become better and stronger in life.

2. Stay Encouraged

Don’t let discouragement set in and steal your joy. Do not be terrified of the circumstances you go through, rather be strong and courageous. Encouragement is about being courageous, so let courage rise up in within you. Quit being your worst critic! The last person on the earth you need to be sabotaged by is…YOU! Instead of being your worst enemy how about becoming your best friend? The person you will talk to more than anyone else in your life is yourself! The truth is, you will either encourage yourself or discourage yourself, it is one or the other. At all times, you have the ability to make the choice to either lift yourself up or tear yourself down. It is hard to get ahead in life if you are always degrading yourself. People tend to live up to the expectation they set on themselves. If you view yourself as a failure, you will probably begin to manifest that perception. But see yourself as successful and you will start living up to it.

3. Stay Focused

Stay focused and committed on your mission. Don’t be like the kamikaze pilot on his 40th mission. Commitment is more than words, it is action that follows through at all cost. Joan of Arc knew her purpose at an early age. When she was seventeen she led 3,000 French Knights in battle. Once she told a military general, “I will lead the way over the wall.” The general replied, “Not a man will follow you.” To this Joan of Arc said, “I won’t be looking back to see if they’re following me.” When you are focused nothing distracts you, your eyes are on the prize. Failure tempts us to quit and give up, but when we stay focused we will eventually reach our goal! Always refocus yourself when failure occurs.

Never fear failure, embrace it in order to become the best you can be. Your future will be dependent upon your ability to fail, learn from it, and get back up stronger than you were before. Henry Ford said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”