Failure and Success

Failure and success are opposites yet intertwined and wholly dependent on one another. As opposite as they are, they are separated by mere centimeters, moving closer together by the moment. One is positive, one is negative, one dark, one light.

I have spent hours contemplating these ideas. Success, true success, is shrouded by failure. In fact, the more successful you are, the more failures you have endured. The road to success is lined with failures, bumps, challenges, and blocks. I understand this concept and even appreciate it. The question becomes, how do we create sufficient momentum to keep moving forward, to keep getting back up, to try again and again?

Some would say the answer is resiliency. The more resilient we are, the more we will get back up. We grow and maintain our resiliency through hope. But as the falls and stumbles become closer and closer together, as we realize we have stumbled again, how do we maintain hope? How do we keep our hope alive?

Others would say the answer is in determination and sheer willpower. With these two characteristics, we can accomplish anything. When nothing is going right, our determination, sheer will, tenacity, and grit will come together, giving us the courage to keep going. How do we maintain determination? How do we protect our tenacity and grit?

And still, others would say routines are the answer. The more we do something, the more we put ourselves out there, the more we will succeed. What about those who insist that if we visualize our successes, we can manifest them into being? There are those who would claim it’s luck, others who would say it’s science, or my turn, or any number of things.

I think the answer is all of the above. If we visualize our success, we will have a vision to focus on. If we rely on our resiliency, continually investing in our hope, reminding ourselves that we have accomplished harder things in the past, we will have the momentum to start. Using our determination will power, tenacity and grit to get us through the rough times, with some chocolate, a good cry, and a power nap, we will have the energy to carry us through the longest plateau.

The secret to success is to expect failures, to plan for them. To ask yourself what will I do if this fails? What is the worst that can happen? Visualize it, decide if you can live with the consequences, make any necessary changes, and move forward. No matter how we plan, no matter how prepared we are, failure is a real thing. If we accept it, then it won’t surprise us. What we expect and plan for has less power over us. And the less power something has, the less likely it is to knock us down.

Sincerely,
Sara O.