How to Fail Successfully

Failure is a big word, isn’t it? It’s the demon that always lingers. If it’s failing a test or just doing something stupid, you always think if you fail then that’s it. No, it absolutely is not! We should all start failing gracefully; don’t start putting yourself down about something that you might have failed at in the past or present because you’ve done it now. No dwelling on just the failure! I used to dwell too much on aspects of my life that I have failed in the past and present; I always thought because I have failed, I won’t be able to do it again or be better. I was always wrong. Over the years I have gained the confidence to know that if I have failed at something, it is because I don’t have enough practice in it or lack of experience.

I know you are all thinking what has she failed at? Well, I will tell you! This first one loads of us have probably failed at; I failed my driving theory test. There, I said out in the open! You sit in a room that looks like you have just done something really bad at school and they have sent you into isolation (not been there…). You start learning for your theory for months, it gets to the day, and bang- every aspect of knowledge goes flying out of your head, but why? The nerves, anticipation, or just not enough practice because you big yourself up before hand, and then it all goes down the drain.

You should laugh at your failures because when you think back to them, they might have been the stupidest thing you’ve ever done. One of the most embarrassing failures of my past, was when I went for a trial day at a smoothie bar, thinking yes this will be good, I will get the job. So, they were teaching me how to make a smoothie- easy I thought. They then let me make one myself; I made it but I only managed to leave the lid off the blender! How? How do you leave a lid off a blender which should be the easiest aspect to remember?! Now that you have got to this point you should all look back on your failures, laugh at them and know that it is ok to fail.

Failures can be negative and positive; the positive side is that you can learn from them in the future. The negatives can be the outcome of your failures if it impacts someone else. This next failure I didn’t really want to share, but I have already come so far, so here goes. Whilst I have been learning to drive, I crashed into my neighbour’s car. I felt like I was in a dream; he came out of his house and started yelling at me telling me he was going to call the police. Failure tip, try not to cry in front of a very aggressive person! Let’s just say I now avoid that house like the plague.

Failure has helped me to see those areas that I need to improve and has been my guide to show me how to do it a different way in the future. It has shown me how to see the funny side of being splattered with milkshake during an interview, it has highlighted the fact that I’m a human being that we all need to fail to grow.

So, try not to bottle up those failures that haunt you, let them free! Keeping them hidden isn’t going to do you any good; your failures should be shouted out at the top of your lungs. Be proud, know where you have made that mistake, and just laugh out it where possible but most of all learn from it and grow! If you’re feeling brave why not share yours in the comments below and then we can all feel human together.

To quote inventor James Dyson “The key to success is failure...Success is made of 99 percent failure”

Maisie Kapur, Cohort 28, Content Assistant at Cuckoo Design