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Yesterday, I was reading an article entitled Entrepreneurship: What is Your Definition of Failure? written by Steve Chou – one of my favourite bloggers – on MyWifeQuitHerJob.com.
In the article, Steve mentioned that he’s read several articles on entrepreneurship, to which he realised that, every article emphasises failure at some point, but somehow failure is rarely defined.
This got Steve to ponder about the definition of failure. After asking the opinions from several people, and based on his own experiences, Steve came up with 3 of his own definitions:
1. Failure is an Attitude
When things don’t pan out as planned, you have to get back on your feet and get things clicking again. This is when you’ve developed an attitude for success.
2. Failure Doesn’t Exist Unless You Give Up
Henry Ford once said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
You don’t fail unless you throw in the towel and never dare to try again. As long as you keep going, bringing with you the new lessons learnt through your setbacks, you’ve not failed.
3. Failure is an Experiment
In Steve’s own words, “The common underlying theme of all of the entrepreneurial quotes is that failure is just a test. It is a test to see if a business idea is viable. It is only through a series of tests that one can eventually find the sweet spot.”
At the end of the article, Steve posed a question to all his readers:
“What is your definition of failure?”
This question reminded me of a dozen of remarkable definitions of failure I picked up from a book I read a couple of months ago, Success Is Never Ending, Failure Is Never Final, by Dr. Robert H. Schuller.
Here are the very inspiring definitions of failure by Dr. Schuller which I’d like to share with you:
Failure doesn’t mean you were dump to try; it means you had courage to explore and experiment to see what would work and what would not.
Failure doesn’t mean you don’t know how to make decisions; it just means you have to make another decision.
Failure doesn’t mean you’re a failure… It does mean you haven’t succeeded yet.
Failure doesn’t mean you have accomplished nothing… It does mean you have learnt something.
Failure doesn’t mean you have been a fool… It does mean you had a lot of faith.
Failure doesn’t mean you’ve been disgraced… It does mean you were willing to try.
Failure doesn’t mean you don’t have it… It does mean you have to do something in a different way.
Failure doesn’t mean you are inferior… It does mean you are not perfect.
Failure doesn’t mean you’ve wasted your life… It does mean you have a reason to start afresh.
Failure doesn’t mean you should give up… It does mean you must try harder.
Failure doesn’t mean you’ll never make it… It does mean it will take a little longer.
Failure doesn’t mean you’re finished… It does mean you have a chance to try something new.
Failure is never final!
And if you’re a religious person, here’s another one for you from Dr. Schuller:
Failure doesn’t mean God has abandoned you… It does mean God has a better idea!
Attitude is what makes the difference between those who succeed and those who fail. If you could live by Dr. Schuller’s definitions of failure and take on a change of attitude toward failure, then it’d be safe to say you’re well on your way to success.
This is not the first post I’d written on the subject ‘Failure’. But because I thought adopting a positive attitude toward failure is so crucial to success in life that I just have to talk about it again.
If you’ve missed my previous Failure post, check it out by clicking the link below:
Cheers~
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