• ‘If you have not failed, you have not hardened yourself. I prepared to do what I found I was excited about and failed 6 times before I got success’. Ritesh Agarwal, Promoter of OYO Chain of Hotels started selling SIM cards at an age of 13, comes from a small town of Orrisa, and is the son of a shopkeeper. According to Hurun Rich List 2020 Ritesh Agarwal is currently the youngest self-made billionaire in the world.
• As a young cartoonist, Walt Disney faced many rejections from newspaper editors, who said he had no talent. A church hired him to draw some cartoons. After seeing a small mouse, he was inspired to start Mickey Mouse. On the first day of its inauguration it was a big mess. The cement was still not settled causing big problem in walking. The games will not work.  The press criticized him a lot. But he continued his efforts, kept improving and created world famous Disneyland.

Fear of failure – A trap that limits the success

Pankaj who has done Electrical Engineering came to me for help in finding him a job and I asked him. ‘what steps have you taken to find a job?’. He replied. ‘I had applied in fifty companies and five of them called me for interviews. But when I went there, the vacancies were filled by persons who had connections and now I have stopped applying afresh’.  In order to help him, I forwarded his resume to a few companies in my acquaintance. Based on that a few days later Pankaj got a call from a company asking him to come for an interview on a particular day.  On the next day of it, Pankaj came to meet me and I asked him ‘how was your interview with that company?’ His reply was ‘Sir, I didn’t go for the interview’. ‘But why?’, I asked him in surprise and was shocked to hear his reply ‘I wanted to find out from you whether you had spoken to the concerned interviewer for which, I tried I calling your number, but it was getting busy and hence was no point in attending the interview without proper recommendation.’

 

It took me great deal to convince him as well as his parents that finding a job without connections is also possible and billions of persons have done it but you are seeing only those who had used connections in getting job. It was not the fault of Pankaj alone but his parents out of ignorance were equally responsible for developing this attitude which has led to a stage that Pankaj even had stopped applying for jobs. After my hectic efforts he was convinced and went alone to find a job and now is well placed in a big company and confidently advises other in changing their limiting beliefs.

 

Many of us have this fear of failure and limiting beliefs. Many opportunities are lost because of playing safe approach. We all need to be safe, but if we hesitate in taking even calculated risk then it may impact our success. Good advice is ‘Take risks but don’t gamble’. While the risk takers go with their eyes open, the gamblers shoot in the dark. Some people never try because they are afraid to lose. There is a difference between playing to win and playing not to lose. The most common fears among people are the fear of the unknown, fear of failing and fear of rejection. In a vicious cycle, the fear leads to anxiety and irrational thinking, magnifying the problem and blocking our success.

 

 You always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take

• A farmer was asked whether he had planted wheat for the season. He replied, “No, I was afraid it wouldn’t rain.” The man again asked, “Did you plant cotton?” The farmer said, “No, I was afraid of insects eating the cotton.” Then the man asked once again, “What did you plant?” The pet reply came from the farmer, “Nothing, I played it very safe”. Opportunity can therefore be related with the fact: “You always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. You may not know what possibilities exist for you unless you have tried.

Failure is not a worse thing as compared to failing without attempting. Those who never strive and keep on waiting get only the scrap discarded by those who strive and move forward. Many persons lose opportunity because it was risky. Is walking on the road, not a risk or in that sense driving a car? Yes of course but still people walk or drive because they take calculated risk with eyes open and not gamble. Developing the courage to try something new requires knowledge, training, careful study and competency, which can be learnt through trial and experience sharing. Don’t be afraid to lose. Take risk by keeping eyes open, but not like a gambler who shoots in dark always.

     Brighter Side of Failure

Failures, when properly handled, can be powerful experience for personal growth. They can pave the way to success.

Never say die. An attitude that says, “Failure is an opportunity to begin more intelligently.” In the face of failure giving up is not the answer.

Focus on the present and not the past. Being obsessed about yesterday’s failure and punishing oneself for losses results in losing sight of other possibilities.

Be challenged by failure. Being challenged by a failure can result in exemplary performance. One example is Roger banister, who challenged by his failure to get a gold medal in Olympics, worked hard to break the Olympic record of a mile in 4 minutes.

Drop the “F” word. Big performers drop failure from their vocabulary. They refer to it as an error of judgment or shortcoming or consider it a starting point for course correction.

Learn from failure. Failure is like darkness but what one learns in the darkness is forever. Failure can provide a rich learning experience.  Let your greatest defeat be the reason for your greatest success.

 

Dreaming with a belief is the 1^st stage of success, effective and passionate action becomes the 2^nd followed by feedback and improvisation. It is better not to have a belief about something rather than to have a limiting belief. Find out if you have developed any such limiting beliefs. Discover and discard them. Henry Ford had said, “If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right”. So it is never a failure but a feedback