Every success is built on a string of failures. The bigger the success, the more epic the failures. Grit is what you need to stay motivated to achieve a goal through persistent failure.
Grit is the disposition to pursue very long-term goals with passion and perseverance, sustained over time. The emphasis is on stamina. And all men have that, right? We wish! But we can learn. Strong men fail.
Let’s get good at failing.
Don’t avoid failure
Successful people are motivated by achievement, not by avoidance of failure.
Get really comfy with failing
Adopt a new attitude to failure that celebrates your effort, rather than assuming inadequacy. If you’re creating or learning something new, know that mastery doesn’t come until the end.
Fail big, fail proud, fail publicly and be glad.
Don’t beat yourself up
When you fail, enjoy the forward momentum you’re creating. Your success will be built from this journey and beating yourself up serves no purpose.
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.#2
Have your own back
Accepting failure has a powerful effect on self-esteem and self-confidence. Back yourself and go for it. Discover how wonderful it feels to have power over your fails.
Know your mind
When you make a new goal, your brain will be thrown into panic and try to protect you from the awful unknown. It will tell you that you’re going to fail and try to persuade you to abandon your goal. Agree with it about failure and keep going – you will prove it wrong in time.
Plan ahead for the fails you will have
Make a list of impossible steps you will take to reach your goal, then expect to fail all of them. Put them as tasks on your schedule and go for it. Make a game of it. Productive failures take time, focus and repetition – you have to cultivate them.
Surprise yourself with the learning you gather from your fails
Document your experiments and failures, don’t lose the details.
Failure is essential – Regard all failure as a valuable learning experience, then build on its lessons in future endeavours#3
Play to your strengths
Constrain yourself to what you do best and work from your unique talents and strengths. That’s where failures become really productive.
You gotta jump
Positive affirmations, dreams and desires will not reach a worthwhile goal. You have to commit and stay committed. You gotta jump.
Believe
I believe in you already. If you commit to failures along the road, persistence will bring you success.
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References
#1 Peter Sims, Little Bets
#2 Thomas Edison
#3 Howard Gardner, Creating Minds
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