Failure: Only the Weak are Brave
Failure is a beginning when you rise.
Adversity contributes to success when it becomes your teacher.
Failure and bravery:
“… no living thing is happy without bravery …” Seneca
Only the weak can be brave. You’re weak when you do something the first time.
An infant is brave when it tries to walk for the first time. A manager is brave when she leads a meeting for the first time. There is no bravery in reaching for things you already achieved.
It’s brave to:
- Commit.
- Risk failure.
- Face your weaknesses head on.
- Let go of something you have to reach for something you haven’t attained.
Action step –What challenge do you face today that makes you feel inadequate? Reflect on times you were brave. What did you learn about yourself? What’s the bravest thing you can do today?
Failure and the past:
Adversity defeats you when you work to change the past.
“Don’t demand that events have to happen as you want them to; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well.” Epictetus
The past becomes a steppingstone after you accept it.
Action step: Write down a painful memory. What does pushing through mean to you? To your future?
Failure and strength:
You gain strength when you struggle. Ease makes you weak.
“… no prizefighter can go with high spirits into the strife if he has never been beaten black and blue; the only contestant who can confidently enter the lists (arena) is the man who has seen his own blood …” Seneca
Action step: Reflect on a time when you were beaten down. Identify one specific way you are stronger because of it. Write down how you can use that strength to face a current challenge.
How has failure brought advantage to you?
What advice about failure do you love to share?
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Thanks again Dan. I always get something good out of your articles.
“Reflect on a time when you were beaten down. Identify one specific way you are stronger because of it.”
I learned the value of prayer. Seems simplistic, but doing so refocused my mindset on what was important and that I’m not alone. Being down feels weak but with this knowledge I can move forward because this, too, shall pass.
“What advice about failure do you love to share?”
I ask, ‘what is the opposite of success?’ The typical response is ‘failure’. But the opposite of success is quitting. Success is built on failure – they go together. So try one more time.
Brilliant insight. “The opposite of success is quitting!” Thanks for sharing, Ryan. and thanks for the good word.