I am going to explain to you a unique way to view failure. In this world we have endless opportunities and paths to walk. Every decision we make opens up a new path with more endless opportunities. For example, setting up your own business. The moment you decide to launch the business a new road map is being laid for you. It is your decision however, whether to walk the path or not.
When you have a setback if you view the setback as failure you close the door to new and exciting opportunities. For example, if you decide to end your business after you lose your first customer, the road map is torn to shreds and the paths end there. This is how most people view failure whereas the following is how I view failure.
Level up!
I spent a large portion of my childhood playing video games. Video games taught me many things. The two biggest learning I took away from video games are:
- Quick decision making
- Beating failure
I did not realise until much later in my life that this is what I would learn from video games. I will not be focusing on the decision making today but if you want to read more about how to more decisive, click here!
I loved playing games like Sonic, Mario, Fifa, Shenmue and Role Playing Games (RPG). If you have never had the chance to play games like these what you should know if that you will lose, a lot. You will attack each level/ game/ scenario in many different ways and still lose. What you learn from games like Sonic and Mario and that you just try again, again and again. What you learning from RPG games is that each time you win or lose, you earn Experience Points (EXP). The next time you attack the level it becomes easier and easier, until you win.
It was recently that it clicked with me; majority of the world play video games. All these people are losing and trying again, each time earning EXP. If you have ever lost a game of Fifa you know it can become emotional. So why can we not apply this view of failure in real life.
So if you are struggling with failure view it this way:
View failure as gaining experience. Every loss makes the next attempt a little bit easier. So keep trying, keep learning, keep adapting and when you win, you LEVEL UP!
If you are interested in how to take the lead in your life and become a leader, read my new book out on Amazon by clicking here!
How to reference this article
- Toor, J. (2019). How to view failure? Available at: https://pmgrowth.co/how-to-view-failure?
Inspirations:
- Video game developers giving me years’ worth of playing video games
- My parents for buying me the games!