Fail to succeed
Social media is a lot about success, the happy highlights, the grandeur of greatness. LinkedIn is no exception. We share our achievements, new job positions, and new certifications. And to be honest with you, I play that game too.
We shine bright like stars by selectively highlighting these aspects of our lives. But we forget (hide) that there is another side to success: failure. Success and failure go hand-in-hand. If it weren’t for failure, success would be boring.
There are many quotes about success and failure to demonstrate this point:
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. — Robert F. Kennedy
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. — Thomas A. Edison
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. — Winston Churchill
Failure is so important. We speak about success all the time. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success. I’ve met people who don’t want to try for fear of failing. — J.K. Rowling
Failure is a natural part of success. Therefore, we should not hesitate to share our failures next to our successes. This provides a more accurate and balanced picture of ourselves, making us more human. Furthermore, others may benefit and learn when we share our failures, provided we dare to do so.
Talking of which…
Let me share some of my recent failures as a new author. It has something to do with names and book signing.
- When a friend of my wife was visiting us, she bought my book on the spot. I offered to sign the book, grateful for her spontaneous purchase. And although I’d asked her to spell her name out for me, I still managed to leave out one letter. Luckily, I could still fix it without making a mess.
- After I’d sent signed book copies to my devoted review team, one of them replied with a gentle request to fix a typo in their last name. Ough! I could have spotted this if I had paid more attention to that person’s email address. I had kept the draft Acknowledgement chapter away from the review team as I wanted to surprise them with my thank-you message in the final and printed version. One surprise too much, unfortunately.
- We were visiting my wife’s parents on New Year’s Day. They bought my book as soon as it was released, so I offered to sign it for them. What followed was one of the most embarrassing moments in my career as a son-in-law: for some inexplicable reason, I seriously misspelled the name of my mother-in-law.😧
I definitely wanted to fix this mistake, so on our next visit, I brought them a new book without spelling errors in my personal message.
Well, so much for my confessions on failures. It still feels a bit embarrassing, but afterward, I can also laugh about it. I guess that’s the healthiest way to move forward.
How about you? How do you deal with failure? Are you open to sharing one of your failures? Here below in the comments?
Take care and till next time!
Kind regards,
Herman / Scrumpy Dad
I help people find their purpose and stay loyal to their goals and values so they can create more happiness in their lives.
Please check out the Scrumpy Dad website for more information. Or join others and start immediately by getting your copy of A Scrum Master’s Guide to Happiness.
