Failure builds confidence

For those of you that are beginning something new, looking for something better, or like me, building something that God designed, don’t be overwhelmed with the possibility of failure.

Failure is a necessary component of success. Sounds strange right? Not really – think about it.

Challenges and the prospect of failure help you to activate and engage your ability to reason, to solve problems, and to overcome. If you never face adversity and overlook opportunities because they may be hard, or you may fail, you’ll eventually develop a false sense of confidence.

  • Failure helps to build true confidence.
  • Life without trouble bolsters false confidence.
  • Authentic confidence will help you to be successful in life.

Developmental opportunities are birthed through experience

Experience is an easy way to build genuine confidence. Anyone can gain wisdom outside of any actual experience. For example, formal academia affords you wisdom obtained through degrees and certifications, but there is something more advantageous about the personal experience acquired outside of these traditional spheres of learning.

10,000 hours of deliberate practice leads to expertise.

Psychologist K. Anders Ericsson recognized this life principle, recording deliberate practice leads to expertise. How much? 10,000 hours to be exact. Wow, so you seriously cannot let failure stop you, you need the experience to achieve any sort of mastery.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how smart you are, the environment you come from, or your resources – it’s essential for you to practice what you want to perfect. And you can’t practice what you quit.

Failure can happen to anyone

Here’s a short story:

I also saw other things in this life that were not fair. The fastest runner does not always win the race; the strongest soldier does not always win the battle; wise people don’t always get the food; smart people don’t always get the wealth; educated people don’t always get the praise they deserve. When the time comes, bad things can happen to anyone!
Ecclesiastes 9:11 ERV

So at the end of the day, no matter how much planning you do or how many resources you have – failure can happen. You can’t stop that, but what you can do is choose not to let that stop you. Start with this…

3 Sure Ways to Overcome Failure

Change your perspective on failure.
Don’t fear defeat. Expect it, welcome it and know that it builds real confidence. Remember, authentic confidence will help you to be successful in life.

Try, and if you fail, try again.
Developmental opportunities are birthed, cultivated and sharpened through experience. If you want to become more skillful, you can’t quit when something bad or unexpected happens. Remember, 10,000 hours of deliberate practice develops expertise.

Create an emergency plan.
No one wants to have a bad day, but they happen, so plan ahead. Why? In times of stress, your body releases cortisol which ignites the fight or flight attitude in you but also clouds your judgment. Understanding this and while your thinking is clear, it’s essential to anticipate problems and create solutions in advance. By doing this, you flip the situation and use the fear of failure to your advantage.

Using these tools to overcome failure, will not only position you for success, but it will make you confident to advise, counsel, and encourage someone else!


Here are some additional resources for you:

The Making of an Expert – Harvard Business Review

How to Stay Calm When You Know You’ll Be Stressed – Ted


 


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