“Failure is success in progress.”
Imagine if how far we’ve gotten on achieving success on an endeavor was measured through a progress bar. Based on this quote by Albert Einstein, that progress bar would be filled with the word “failure”. Meaning, the more there is failure, the more we load up to success. Our failures is success in progress. So, whenever you feel like you’re not having any success on your goals due to many failures, remember that those very failures can also mean you’re moving closer toward success. Those failures are shaping and teaching you in ways you may not realize.
“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
This quote, by Joseph Campbell, talks about being willing to let go of the life you planned. This is not to say you give up easily when things don’t go according to plan or you don’t plan things out at all. There’s nothing wrong with persevering or planning your future to a T. Being able to do that is a good thing that typically sets you up for success. However, understand that sometimes things don’t work out because they aren’t meant to. They were only meant to teach you a life lesson. But the more you fixate on them, the less likely you are to see or accept any alternative,…
“Learn from others, as you would learn from your own mistakes.”
Learning from your own mistakes is one thing. However, the ability to learn from other’s experiences takes things a step further. They may have already walked a path you’re currently traveling. They know where the dead ends and stumbling blocks are. Maybe they took the wrong path entirely or made decisions that prevented them from reaching their destination. This quote, by Kazi Shams, reminds us to learn from other’s mistakes. Perhaps we can avoid making them ourselves and spare ourselves from a more difficult road ahead.
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“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along’.”
“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.”
“It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.”
“Giving up doesn’t always mean you are weak; sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go.”
In life, we’re conditioned to believe that giving up is a sign of weakness. If you’re giving up on something, it must automatically mean you’re not capable or strong enough to do that thing. However, this quote, from the book Crossing Tinker’s Knob by Inglath Cooper, turns this thinking upside-down. Sometimes giving up means we’re strong enough to let go. Sometimes it’s actually harder to give up than to keep going. Knowing when it’s time to end one course in favor of an other not only requires an incredible amount of discernment but also strength in humility.
“I never lose. Either I win or learn.”
Whenever someone doesn’t win, the assumption is that they lost or tied. However, this quote, by Nelson Mandela, reminds us not to think in such absolute terms when it comes to winning and losing. Moreover, it reminds us to rethink what losing actually means; or rather, what losing actually results in. Yes, it often results in sadness and disappointment–But it also results in learning. No matter what, there’s something to learn. There’s always a lesson. Unfortunately, feelings of sadness and disappointment have a way of overshadowing the lessons loss teaches us. But if we find a way to learn the lessons, then our losses are never in vain.
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.”
Sometimes we tend to have a much greater compassion for others than we do for ourselves. We understand when others make an unintended mistake and we’re prepared to help them in times of need. Meanwhile, we may be quick to dismiss our own hurt and pain and be less forgiving of our own mistakes. This quote, by Jack Kornfield, reminds us to not be so hard on ourselves–to also offer ourselves grace and compassion. Otherwise, our compassion is not whole but rather incomplete.
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
Have you ever wished you could go back in time and start over on something? Maybe you want to start over on your entire life. The desire to go back in time to change something is not uncommon. You may have had a rough start in life or on a particular endeavor. However, this quote (perhaps by the author, James Sherman), reminds us that we don’t have to be limited by the past. What we know now and do now can change our future.
“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.”
Think about all the things you’ve dreamt of doing but your doubts stood in the way. You didn’t think you could do these things so you never tried or you quickly gave up on them. Therefore, each doubt resulted in an unfulfilled dream. This quote, by Suzy Kassem, brings to light the fact that we have more to lose in doubt than we do in failure. At least with failure we learn from our mistakes, and what we learn sets us up for success later. However, with doubt, we either don’t take the first step or we quickly give up before we’re half-way there. Hence, trying and failing is much…
“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.”
It’s our tendency to assume that a person is successful because they rarely make mistakes. We may think, they never mess up in any major way, which is precisely why they’re successful. However, we’d be surprised to find that many successful people not only make mistakes, but they’ve made quite a few of them. The difference is that they learn from their mistakes. Therefore, they are capable of making fewer over time. This quote, by George Bernard Shaw, reminds us that success is not about never making mistakes. Success consists of not making the same mistakes. Thereby making every misstep a leap forward.
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”
Given a choice, most people would rather have only success and no failure. However, this quote, by the writer Truman Capote, reminds us that failure is what makes success more sweet. This makes sense. Without failure, success is taken for granted. In fact, the idea of success loses much of its meaning without its direct opposite. It turns out, the two go hand in hand. So the next time you are experiencing failure, just think about how much more rewarding success will be having failed first.
