9,000 shots missed. 300 games lost. 26 game-winning moments he was trusted with and didn’t score.
That’s Michael Jordan’s list of failures.
He failed and failed, time and again. He failed so many times he became the greatest player of his generation, if not ever.
That’s the price of success.
While most people focus on the thought of success to motivate them, he used cold hard failure.
How many times have you failed? You probably avoid it, hide it away, and try to forget about it.
But do this and you rob yourself of one of the great gifts from the universe. Because believe it or not, failure isn’t the preventer of success. It’s the dirty little secret behind it.
Failure Shows You’re Aiming At Growth
If you never fail, then most likely you’ve never tried anything beyond your comfort zone.
Because discomfort is the price you pay for growth.
If you’ve never ventured beyond the boundaries of your competency, you’re not realising your potential. So pick what you want to do and then fail at it. Repeatedly and quickly. Then learn from it and watch yourself blossom in real-time.
Put yourself out there, take risks, and get comfortable being uncomfortable.
“A person who never made a mistake, never tried anything new” — Albert Einstein
Failure Builds A Mindset
If you’ve never failed, you’re not prepared. You’ve equipped yourself only to survive what you’re good at.
What happens when life throws a curveball?
Now you have to develop, and develop fast. But how? You’re a cruiser. You’ve never excelled. How could you? Your life was easy. Challenges were few. And don’t forget; that was your choice.
Now you’re learning the hard way. And it’s painful.
If you’d already failed, and shown yourself you could survive failure, you’d be halfway to success.
Surviving failure is evidence that you’re competent. You can overcome. You can rise. You’re not perfect, but you’re one step better.
“I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent — no one can ever know what you’re capable of, not even you” — Seneca
Failure Gives You Fuel
Nobody wants to be the Ivy League student who’s used to being top of their class back home with relative ease, but now sees that they’re distinctly sub-par in a class of elites. That does little for one’s confidence. In fact, studies show it’s destructive.
Apart from a few blessed, gifted, or outlying wonderkids, the top achievers are the ones who struggle and fight for what they get. They have tasted defeat and it made them never want to taste it again. They know what lurks in the abyss of failure, and they’ve got reasons to avoid it.
They want success because the universe told them they can’t have it.
The quitters gave up long ago. Those that make it this far are first class. They bled for it. They’ve been denied it but stuck with it.
They’re not giving up without a fight.
They have developed processes, procedures, and strategies directly from failures that they apply now. They’re battle-tested warriors with grubby boots and bloody sabres.
They’re the ones leading the charge.
“My advice is find fuel in failure. Sometimes failure gets you closer to where you want to be” — Michael Jordan
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The Call to Arms
So go forth and fail. Lean into the discomfort. Step outside what you know and stay malleable.
Don’t live in an echo chamber of your own successes. It’s only you that’s being fooled, and what a waste of talent it is to fool yourself. Life has other plans. It will come at you when you least expect it and show you how little it cares for your comfort.
Be strong. Be brave. Be better.
Stay thankful for the failures, and wear them as your armour.
Don’t waste time thinking you’re bulletproof. Find examples that show you you’re not and then learn from them.
If necessity is the mother of invention, comfort is its murderer.
So to all my fellow failures, here’s a toast: be courageous in your endeavours, smile at fate and accept its lessons. Dream, strive, and survive.
Fail beautifully. Fail drastically. Fail spectacularly.
There’s no better teacher than that.
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Some other stories you might like:
5 Things We’re Afraid of That Are Actually Exactly What You Need To Embrace
10 Simple Daily Habits That Can Make You Smarter
Most Creators Fail Because of These Little Thoughts
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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