You’ve probably clicked on this post because you’re beating yourself up – again – for making mistakes or failing, am I right? And now you’re tired of that cycle and want to shift your perspective to stop the negative self-talk once and for all, right? Well, I’m glad you did. In this post, I’ll go over five reasons why failure is actually important and how it can be a stepping stone to growth.
Failing sucks. Let’s be real. Especially if it happens more often than not and you feel like nothing you do is right. Nothing you do actually works out. Or even worse – nothing will ever work out. That’s what we all think, right? At least for me, I know I have felt that a lot in the past.
But is that actually the case? Straight-up no. And I’ve come to realize that failure is part of the journey. Inevitable. You can’t find a way past it. There’s an exception, though. The only people who will never fail are those who are too scared to even start and try.
Now, let me give you five reasons why failure is important for personal growth…(and the best, and most inspiring quotes about failure at the end of this post!)
But What Does the Word Failure Even Mean?
Simply put, it means you’re not succeeding in whatever area of your life. The definition of failure itself sounds horrible, right?
Like, it sounds like just because you’re not succeeding right now, you never will. And that it is the worst thing to fail.
Which you will soon discover is anything but. Perspective truly changes everything and I’m hoping that by the end of this post, you have a completely different mindset and start to embrace failure.
What It Means to Fail
Honestly: Can you fail if you don’t even start and try? Plain and simple: No, you cannot. So, what failure means, apart from its definition, is that you are willing to take the first step and start.
And if you then keep on going it means that you are trying, no matter if you’re seeing results right away or not. And what does that mean? It means you’re already winning and are ahead of most people.
Because let’s face it, most people don’t even try because they are too scared. Scared that they will fail. But that also means they will never succeed. I mean, how would that work, right?
Just some examples: You could never fail at becoming an entrepreneur if you don’t even start a business. Neither could you win and build a successful business.
You could never fail at dancing if you don’t even book the first lesson. Neither could you become great at it.
You could never fail at becoming an author if you don’t even start writing at all. Neither could you ever become a successful author.
See how failure works? There is no success without failure. And this literally applies to every single area of your life.
If you don’t believe me when I say failure is inevitable and part of becoming successful, then I have two more examples for you:
- J.K. Rowling was a poor, divorced single mother who didn’t even have the money to print her manuscript for Harry Potter and instead wrote it by hand. Then she was rejected by 12 publishers before being accepted by one. Just imagine by having been rejected by the third publisher she would have thrown in the towel.
- Or Walt Disney. He formed Laugh-O-Gram Studio and got a financial backer who then went broke so Disney had to file for bankruptcy just a year later. Then he started another company which he also almost had to file bankruptcy for. He took a loan from the bank and his first full-length movie took off. Now, just imagine he gave up. All the movies we wouldn’t have gotten to watch that made our childhood.
So, if they never started, never tried and most importantly never stopped trying, they would have never been successful. This is what failure means. You never stop no matter if the odds are against you or not. You keep on failing until you’re winning. Because, one day, you will.
Why Failure is Important for Growth and Success
1. You Build Resilience
What most successful people have in common is resilience. And it is for sure one of the best skills you can have. It means you keep going when others would have quit already. You keep going even if you’re failing more than you are succeeding. Most people won’t do that. They fail, think that this is the end of the world, and just quit.
And I know that because I used to be just like that. Something didn’t work out and I was like “Okay, maybe that’s just not for me”.
The thing is you never know how close you actually are to reaching your goals. It’s like imagine if you didn’t quit…Maybe it would have turned out amazing and you would have succeeded.
And you only build resilience by being okay with failing. You fail, you get back up and try again. Then you repeat this cycle until you succeed. Not just for a month but for years. I always used to think that things would come easily and I wouldn’t have to do much but still succeed. I’m chuckling here right now because what in the world? Well, I now know this couldn’t be further from the truth.
I mean, it’s easy to think like this when you only see people in their successful state. But what you don’t see is all the hard work they put in for literally decades to get to that point.
They kept going even when faced with setbacks. And that’s why failure is inevitable for building resilience.
2. You Become Wiser
I feel like a failure should not be called that at all. It should rather be called challenges. Because that’s what happens. You are facing a challenge, and either you see it as one and learn from it so you can do better next time or you see it as something you won’t recover from and quit instead. There is no middle path to this.
And with every challenge you overcome, you learn, and get wiser, more resilient, and stronger, too. It builds your character.
If you’ve ever listened to extremely successful people, you’ll find them talking about how failure teaches you more than success ever will. Why? Because failure ultimately leads to success.
Because the journey is not in crossing the finish line but on your way there. The ups, but really mostly the downs. That’s where you’ll learn the most about what works and what doesn’t. What to avoid next time and how to do better. So that you then can actually do better.
Without failure, you could never grow as a person. You simply don’t know anything until you just try. And try, and try again. Because even if you learned everything you can in theory, in praxis that’s a whole different story.
3. Your Path Becomes Clearer
Failures are always teaching you something – whether that is how to do things better next time, what to avoid, and when to pivot.
I know that whenever I failed, it always showed me what I’d rather want to do and where I am supposed to be headed. This is especially important when you feel lost and don’t know what to do with your life.
you just have to try out a bunch of things and fail at most of them but afterward, your path becomes even clearer. Then you’ll know what direction in life to head in. I mean, they say rejection is redirection for a reason, right?
but once you find something that you love doing and enjoy, you have to promise yourself to stick with it for a very long period of time. Fail, get back up, learn, and then fail some more. but don’t quit.
4. You Become Fearless
I feel like the more you fail the more you are willing to just jump right in. Because you will notice that nothing bad ever happens. You fail. Okay, so? The world doesn’t end there.
No one is born an expert and as long as you see your failures as challenges that you can overcome, it won’t matter how often you fail.
What’s great about that is that you will stop procrastinating. If you want to do something, you will simply go do it. No matter if you look like a beginner or not.
I mean, I don’t know how many people just think about doing something but they never actually do it. What’s the point? You’re just wasting your time.
At some point, you need to get over your fear of failing and shift your mindset to wanting and needing to fail. Because you could never avoid it anyway. It’s part of your journey.
And seriously, how boring would a story even be if someone just got to the top straight away? Plot twists are what make stories interesting.
5. You Become Empathetic
It’s very easy to judge people for trying, failing, and looking like a beginner (even if it’s just subconscious). Very easy. I speak from experience. Especially because people on Social Media make success look like an overnight thing when it’s anything but.
It’s especially easier when you never tried anything outside of your comfort zone. You don’t know how much work goes into it, how many times you’ll fail and have to get back up, never knowing if you are ever going to actually make it.
And once I got over my all-consuming fear, I simply tried things that scared me. That’s when I was confronted with the harsh reality. Nothing is as easy as those people make it out to be. Nothing ever goes as planned and you have to stick things out for years on end to be seeing results. There is no shortcut.
Now that I have been through this cycle many times I admire people for starting and trying. I always used to deep down but it was just covered with jealousy and anger at myself for not being as brave as others.
No one starts out as an expert. And it takes hard work and resilience even when you’re failing, and especially when you’re failing to just keep on going.
10 Quotes on Why Failure Is Important
- “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” – Jack Canfield
- “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.” – Denis Waitley
- “There is no failure except in no longer trying.” – Chris Bradford
- “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
- “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong
- “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” – Henry Ford
- “Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.” – Robert T. Kiyosaki
- “Failure is so important. We speak about success all the time. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success. I’ve met people who don’t want to try for fear of failing.” – J.K. Rowling
- “No human ever became interesting by not failing. The more you fail and recover and improve, the better you are as a person. Ever meet someone who’s always had everything work out for them with zero struggle? They usually have the depth of a puddle. Or they don’t exist.” – Chris Hardwick
- “Courage allows the successful woman to fail and learn powerful lessons from the failure. So that in the end, she didn’t fail at all.” ― Maya Angelou
I truly hope this post has shown you why failure is actually important for personal growth and success. Because, honestly, there can’t be success without failure. Even if you think you know everything, you’ll still fail.
What matters is how you deal with failure. Do you learn from your mistakes and try to do better? Do you push through?
Not for just a month but for years on end. If you do, then honestly, you’re already winning because most people would have given up already.
This post was about why failure is important for personal growth and success
Other posts you may like:
How to Become the Woman of Your Dreams: 5 Steps
