In the dictionary, you will find the word failure is defined as a lack of success. Fair enough; but this implies that those of us who fail are failing because we’re not successful in life. This isn’t true. We all fail to do things – constantly. But you never truly fail if you learn from the past and your experiences. I’ll explain why I think the word failure is not only misleading but potentially harmful.
Will Smith said that in life we are sold a false philosophy. That true success or greatness is presented as some mystic, all powerful thing that only a few will experience.
Smith argues that the separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood perceptions in our universe.
Talent is something we have naturally. Skill is entirely a different matter.
Many of the best writers, sportsmen, artists or surfers I know were never amazing from the word go. They learnt to be great. And they are always learning.
Always growing.
To fail occasionally or frequently is still to learn. To learn is to develop. To develop is to build. To build is to last. This is the ethos of creating a skill.
According to Smith; when you build a wall, do so brick by brick and pretty soon you have a wall (hyperlink). Trying to set out to build a wall overnight is the crux of things crashing and burning – you cannot do anything successfully in the long run without being skilled at it. One must beat on their craft, day in, day out.
Therefore; failure and the absence of developing skills, is only true failure when you do not learn from it. I see this in one of my old friends, who failed in the corporate world, realised this and went to excel in property. Or one of my best friends; who went on to be successful writer because she worked on her craft every single day.
When you can learn by your actions and your past experiences, you can build your wall, on those solid foundations and achieve your goals. Another analogy, similar to the wall, is to plant a seed, cultivate the tree and eventually the tree takes care of itself.
Like any skill; it requires work. It does not happen overnight.
So, I simply do not believe in failure – if you try and do not succeed but reflect and grow from the situation – then you are learning and growing. On the essence that you keep learning. You keep laying the bricks, building strong foundations until you have your wall. Great skill, and therefore success, is built from a solid foundation.
Failure is never failure when you learn from it.