‘Failure Is Not An Option.’ Or Is It?

Over the years, I have often heard the phrase, ‘failure is not an option’. 

Why is failing such an unimaginable notion? Why would people give up or take their own lives because something did not work out as they expected or hoped?

Could this be because we live in a world that has made failure a non-option and piled on the pressure to never get things wrong?

Today, I am questioning the notion that failure is not an option and I am encouraging those feeling unimaginable pressure to take a step back and realise that their best days are always ahead of them.

This means any failure is temporary and can be reversed.

Yes, failure is not an option that ANYONE WANTS but because it happens, we must be prepared to handle it.

So why are we so afraid of failing? Many of us grew up in families where the expectation was for us to BE the best rather than DO the best.

Also many parents step in to help their children rather than see them struggle. Sometimes their efforts stop the children from making mistakes, growing up or becoming responsible and resilient.

Many become adults having never truly experienced any form of delay, struggle, denial or failure.

So it’s no wonder that the first time they experience any of these things can prove challenging and sometimes fatal.

So how do we reverse this cycle?

Accept that failure is a part of life and not a crime

We need to stop fearing failure and seeing it as the end of the world. More importantly we need to help the next generation to see and understand this.

No one deliberately sets out to fail or be a failure, so our job is to help people set up their stalls for success and be there for them if things don’t go to plan after having done their best.

I love how Mary Pickford puts it in the quote that says, “If you have made mistakes. . . there is always another chance for you. . . for this thing we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.”

So it’s ok to fail but it’s NOT ok to stay down or see yourself as a failure.

Redefine failure

We must redefine failure as a learning experience and an understanding of what not to do in the future.

Every time things don’t go to plan, we can take a step back to assess what we could have done differently or better, accept the mistakes we made and come up with a better proposal. Then we must seek any help or support that we need – training, mentoring, partnering and prayer.

Remind yourself and others to take risks

Fear of failure is the enemy of progress, innovation, improvement and problem solving.

It keeps us in the status quo and in a place of acceptance where we wallow in a current state that we are not happy with.

Wayne Gretzky puts it nicely when he said, “One hundred percent of the shots you don’t take don’t go in.” So take a shot, you might miss BUT you might just hit.

Be a role model and showcase your own turnaround stories

There is something powerful about telling our stories to others especially to those who put us on a pedestal.

Many young couples struggle because of the belief that their parents or others had the perfect marriage. Maybe they were shielded from seeing what it takes to make a marriage work so they are unprepared for the non-rosy days.

Many think their parents never failed in school, had a set-back in the workplace or were never betrayed but quite often that’s not true.

It’s time for us to start being real because there’s a world out there that needs us to remind them that, ‘this too shall pass’.

Teach resilience

It’s time to learn and teach others about RESILIENCE. Resilience is the ability to bounce back to previous state after a challenge, struggle or failure. Too many lack this ability which is needed in and out of work.

Resilience can be the difference between those who overcome failure and try again and those who crumble and give up.

In conclusion, I want to leave you with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson that says, “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”

Thanks for reading and sharing my posts with others. Have a great week.