Failure is not celebrated enough

This is as raw as it gets.

In this part of the world, failure is seen as something so alien, a thing to be ashamed of, a sign of defeat. But I dare say that failure should be supported, encouraged and even celebrated.

It is interestingly ironic to me that no one in this part of the world is a stranger to failure, whether it’s personally or even experiencing a failed leadership and government, we have experienced failure in one way or the other, and yet it’s so alien to us. I think it is because of that failure we have experienced personally and with our micro and macro leadership structures that make us think “we cannot afford to fail” there are no second chances for those who fail.

But that mindset, as protective as it feels, has also quietly bred cowardice. It has turned failure into regret instead of lessons. It makes people say, “I will never take a risk again,” instead of asking, “What can I do differently next time?”

Failure has birthed the most influential people we’ve seen today, because they have learned things that only failure can teach you. There are things you can learn from your own failure that even the failures of others can never teach you. There are parts of you that will be strengthened, character that it will build from direct experience, that just learning from other people’s stories can never teach you. You have to get your hands dirty, play in the mud, you have to step into uncertainty and live with it.

Maybe I shouldn’t be the one to write this because I’ve played it safe for most of life, I’ve looked a bit too much before I leaped, but then came a time when I looked so carefully and leaped but still failed in my endeavour. I hid from the world, I wallowed in shame and regret, I let sadness rule me and I almost didn’t take any lessons from that failure until I started to read the stories of those in admired.

Listen, Failure is an integral part of success; It is not the opposite, it’s a part of it.

In any area of life, when you fail enough times, you become a master who never fails again. Here’s what I mean - If you fail enough times, in enough ways, you don’t become someone who never fails again. You become someone who understands failure so well, it no longer controls you.

I hope I can reinvent your mind. I used to have a fairly popular book back in the day that in the cover was written - “learning never ends” and really it never does. You can never truly ‘fail’, you can only learn adjust and try again.

So, Fail more. Learn more. Try more. Show up more.

That’s how you stand out.

I hope, as I write this, I learn to take my own advice..