Failure is an Instrument of Success.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts," so declared Winston Churchill. In Albert Einstein's words, "Failure is success in progress." Today, let's reflect on failure as an instrument of success. Do you know that failing in something is not the reason for you not succeeding? According to Ekaterina Walter, "It seems that failure tends to be more public than success. Or at least that’s what we perceive it to be. We fret it, we try to avoid it, and we question ourselves every time we have unconventional ideas. But the simple truth is – no great success was ever achieved without failure. It may be one epic failure. Or a series of failures – such as Edison's 10,000 attempts to create a light bulb or Dyson’s 5,126 attempts to invent a bagless vacuum cleaner. But, whether we like it or not, failure is a necessary stepping stone to achieving our dreams." The implication is that failure is not necessarily a problem. Rather, the issue is what you do with failure. John Wooden noted that "Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be." George Clooney added, "The only failure is not to try." Robert Kennedy noted that “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” Despite this, many don't dare to try anything they suspect they may fail. Paulo Coelho confirmed this when he said, "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” Coco Chanel, therefore, noted that "Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” So, enhance your capacity to utilize failure as an instrument of success. As much as nobody deliberately desires failure, know, as Bill Gates did, "It's fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure." Ken Robinson thus counselled, "If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” The implication is that you should not see failure as a road block to success but as an instrument to enhance success. Gena Showalter, therefore, entreated, “Giving up is the only sure way to fail.” That might have been why Chris Bradford noted that "There is no failure except in no longer trying.” Denis Waitley counselled, "Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” Therefore, consider reframing what is considered as failure to enable failure work for, rather than against you. Learn from Thomas Edison, who declared, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” As you step out today, don't let failure fail you. Utilize what has not worked as expected as a learning opportunity to enhance your success. If you feel discouraged, let Winston Churchill note encourage you: "Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”