Do Not Be Afraid To Fail

“If you don’t try at anything, you can’t fail…it takes backbone to lead the life you want.” -- Richard Yates

What does failure mean to you? Are you afraid of it, does it make you think twice about taking chances? Do you let it get you down or does it motivate you? Think of the last time you failed at something and then think about how you handled it?

Failure is, by definition is: "the lack of success in doing or achieving something; a person or thing that is not successful". Over the past couple of years, and especially this past year, I have been trying to work on how to handle failure. Not only how to manage failure, but how to tackle it and not be afraid of the outcome. Failure to me has a much different definition in life than it does in the dictionary. It has two meanings.

First, I do not agree a person who is unsuccessful is a failure; a failure is someone who doesn’t take the chance to be successful. If you are willing to dare, take the risk, and if it turns out to be unsuccessful, you are not a failure. If you try and fail; good, you either learned what not to do or are that much closer to success.

Secondly, failure is how you handle being unsuccessful. If you are unsuccessful but learned from the experience and let it motivate you, were you a failure? No. Are you a failure if being unsuccessful leads to sulking, quitting and not learning? Yes.

The most successful people in this world are often those who fail the most. Why, because they learn from their failures. They turn their failures into stepping stones to success. Let failure motivate you to be better. At the end of the day would you rather wonder what if, or know that you were unsuccessful and needed to work harder tomorrow to achieve your goals.

This goes for anything in life; sports, business, relationships, and school. Take a chance, it is worth the risk. Do not let being unsuccessful deter you from trying something new or pursuing your goals. Learn from each experience, let it teach you a lesson and move on. Do not sit around afraid of failing.

I have had to improve these qualities myself. I haven’t always been a person who was willing to take the leap and risk failure. However, I have gotten to a point in my life where I do not want to ask “what if” anymore. I have seen some of my failures turn into successes and lead me to where I am today. It has made me a better person, friend, and coach.

To subscribers, athletes, coaches and anyone else reading this: do not be afraid to compete and lose. Competition is awesome; you have to be willing to leave it all out there to get better. If you lose then you know, you have to work harder and learn from your mistakes. One of the quickest ways to become a loser is to want to win so badly that you are afraid to lose. Don’t use up your energy worrying about failing. Put the energy towards the effort needed to be successful.

My challenge to you is to attack your goals without the fear of failing. Go all in. Take the risk. You fail. So what! Work harder and try again. It could be as simple as trying a new class at CPC that looked too tough for you. It could be something bigger like going for that graduate degree or taking a chance on that new job. Whatever it is, do not be afraid to fail, it may very well lead you to your biggest success!

There will always be a next time, but it’s how you handle the past failure that produces your next result.

-- Wiltey