💡 Fail Again. Fail Better.

“Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” — Samuel Beckett

I talk about failure quite often — probably more than anyone regularly should. But the truth is, I feel like a failure. I feel this way a lot.

The American mentality is — and maybe has always been? — that if you don’t do something correctly, if you don’t do something well, then you are, for all intents and purposes, a failure.

Didn’t get an A on that exam? Failure! Didn’t get that report draft done on time? Failure! Didn’t finish writing that book? Failure! Burnt dinner when trying a new recipe? Failure!

This is how society operates, and it’s problematic.

By defining ourselves and others by these moments of imperfection, we‘re not looking at the bigger picture. Every so-called failure is an opportunity to learn and grow.

Society’s rigid definitions of what success should be often ignore personal circumstances, mental health, and our unique and individual journeys. We’re all different, and our paths are not meant to be identical. Holding ourselves to a one-size-fits-all standard of success is both unrealistic and unfair, and it needs to stop. Now.

What would happen if we redefined failure? What would happen if we saw it as an integral part of the process, rather than proof of inadequacy?

What if, instead of chastising ourselves for every tiny and insignificant misstep, we actually celebrated our persistence, our creativity, and our resilience?

This kind of shift in perspective could not only transform our relationships with ourselves and our achievements, but with other people, too. How great would that be?

If you’re like me and have to constantly fight with feeling like a failure, remind yourself that you’re in good company. You’re not the only person to feel this way. Every successful person has a long list of failures behind them. It’s not about avoiding failure altogether; it’s about how we respond to it, what we learn from it, and how we use it to move ourselves forward.

In the end, my advice is to embrace your failures. They’re the raw material that informs all of your eventual successes!