All of us want to be successful. All of us have big dreams. We all try very hard to achieve them. But on our way to achieving those dreams, if we face a failure, we just break down totally. Sometimes we don't even feel like trying the same job again just because of the failure we faced in the previous attempt. And if we get up and start doing it, we are not able to put our 100% in it. Consciously or unconsciously, the fear of failure affects our performance. Students put so much effort in studying for exams, and if they end up getting a B or C, then they hardly look forward to next semester. If we stop doing everything just because of the fear of failing, then the world will come to an end. Then, what exactly should we do to overcome it? Let's take some moments and see if we are able to conquer the failure or if failure would be able to conquer us!
Changing point of view-->>First of all, we have to stop looking at failure in a negative way. People tend to link failure with weakness, stupidity, and dumbness. I totally disagree with that. I believe if you are doing something, and you think you are just perfect in it, that means something seriously is going wrong with it. When a person thinks he is perfect, he has closed all doors for any growth or improvement. Whenever there is imperfection, there are million chances of improvement. A person keeps on growing, but a so called 'perfect person' just stops growing. He is in this illusion of being perfect which hinders his growth forever. Look at failure as another step toward success. Make yourself positive enough to see the good sides of failure.
Don't label yourself a 'failure'-->> If you fail in something, don't think of yourself as a failure. It just means that you haven't succeeded in doing the work you were doing. It means that you are only some steps away from achieving your goal. By labeling yourself as a failure you close the door for all possibilities of achieving success. Let me explain this with a beautiful example. There was a man who failed in business at the age of 21; was defeated in a legislative race at the age of 22; failed again in business at 24; overcome the death of his girlfriend at 26; had a nervous breakdown at 27; lost a congressional race at age of 34; lost a senatorial race at age 45; failed to become Vice President at the age 47; lost a senatorial race at 49; and was elected as the President of the United States at the age of 52! He was none other than Abraham Lincoln. He could have labeled himself a failure and ruin his whole life. Instead, he decided to ignore failure and fight against all odds.
Don't behave like a machine-->>Always remember that only highly intelligent people face big failures. They are the ones who cannot get things done in a right manner in first attempt. The reason for this is very simple. A person who follows orders and fulfills them right away, without thinking, is like a machine. There is no difference between that person and a machine. You tell him something and he will do it. However, a successful person is very different. If you tell him to do something in a certain way, he will ask you why he can't do it in other way. He will not follow your order blindly. He always say, "Why not the other way?" He always thinks different from crowd and that's where he succeeds.
An average student will follow what his professor has to say. He will learn the whole book and his professor's lecture word to word. But a genius-minded student would ask the professor so many questions about the whys and teh wherefores. His questions will be beyond the coursework.
That average student might end up getting a better grade than that genius student. But in long term, it will be that genius student whose name will be remembered for a long time. However, that average student remains average forever his life. So, stop thinking that you are a weak or dumb student if you end up getting a low grade in spite of asking so many questions in every class. Rather be proud of yourself that your mind is much more polished than other students in the class.
See what you have learned-->>When you fail to do something, look back and see how much you have learned. You will be surprised to see that you have learned so much that you would not have learnt if you succeeded in the first attempt. Thomas Edison failed approximately 10,000 times while he was practicing on the light bulb! When people asked him to quit this project, his reply was, "I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward...."
If you have this kind of attitude, there is no way why you won't be successful. Every failure teaches you something. You just have to see what mistakes you made and learn from them. The more mistakes you make, the smarter you will become. Just don't make the same mistake twice because that will make you stupid. Learn from your first mistake and don't repeat it.
Never give up-->>No matter how people react to your failure, you should never ever give up. If you start giving up after your every failure, you will see that you will accomplish literally nothing in life. You will start doing something and will quit it forever after you fail in it. In this way, your skills will never be polished. Your dreams will never see the light of day.
Every success story is also a story of a great failure. The only difference is that the successful people never gave up. Instead, they bounced back with a much more energy and enthusiasm every time they failed. There was a partially deaf child who was expelled from school because his teachers considered him too stupid to learn. His mother decided to teach him and show everyone how intelligent her son is. Her son was none other than the great Thomas Edison. Edison had only three years of formal schooling.
Be patient-->>Don't get discouraged if it is taking a little longer than you expected. The more time it will take the better performance it will give. Don't think that you will never achieve your goal or you will never get you want. Failure might cause your goals a little delay but it doesn't mean that you will never achieve them. It simply means that it will take just little longer. When Beethoven was young, everybody used to tell him that he has no talent for music. He knew that he will be the best composer after a considerable time. Today everyone knows that he gave the world some of the best music.
Finally, as I wrote in my previous articles, we need to update our dictionaries. We have to remove some of the words and change the meaning of some of them. 'Failure' is one of those words whose meaning needs to be changed. Today onwards, see failure as a chance to bounce back with full of energy. Look at failure as an opportunity to improve more and polish your skills. View your failure as a road to success. I am sure if you follow the above suggestions sincerely, then you will be one of those rare people who make it big no matter what circumstances are. All the best!
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Richard Branson on Embracing Failure
Editor's Note: Entrepreneur Richard Branson regularly shares his business experience and advice with readers. Ask him a question and your query might be the inspiration for a future column.
Q: I have always been fearless, and gone after everything I wanted. I launched a business selling my designs a few years ago, and it succeeded, but I had to close it due to the recession. Now, having just earned a master’s degree, I have decided to launch my own design firm rather than look for a job, and for the first time in my life I find that I am paralyzed with fear. How can I face down this fear in order to go after my dreams? -- Tatiana Poblah, Montreal, Canada
Fear is something everyone must learn to cope with when tackling life’s challenges, but this is especially important for entrepreneurs, who are likely to face many hard choices in the process of getting a business off the ground. And in the early stages of running a new enterprise, the way you handle pressure can often make the difference in whether it survives.
You may need to make some tough calls. During Virgin’s early years, one difficult decision we had to make involved Virgin Records, which at one point was in desperate need of cash to sign bigger artists. My partners, Nik Powell and Simon Draper, were split on what to do: Nik wanted to conserve our resources and slowly collect money through our retail operations; Simon wanted to invest heavily in Virgin Records, betting on the notion that we could find the next big artists that way. We needed quick growth, so I took the riskier gamble, following Simon’s advice over Nik’s. It turned out to be the right decision, but it took a lot of courage -- and not just from me, but everyone on staff.
I’ve always found that the first step in overcoming fear is figuring out exactly what you’re afraid of. In your case, I wonder: Is your anxiety a reflection of doubts about your business plan? Or is it rooted in your experience with your previous venture?
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But if your previous venture’s end is what is making you so hesitant, try to take some comfort in the fact that most entrepreneurs fail when they launch their first businesses. Failing doesn’t mean that you’re not cut out to run your own business. In fact, many venture capital investors evaluate potential partners on how they reacted to a failed business, seeing it as a test of character, rather than a mark against them. The key to bouncing back is to learn whatever lessons you can from the experience so that you can avoid making the same mistakes in the next launch. This will help you to overcome your fear, take a leap of faith and try again.
The experience of launching one of your first businesses reminds me of the adventures and challenges I have embarked on over the years to promote Virgin and put our businesses on the map. There were countless times during our record-breaking hot-air balloon trips when I wondered whether we were going to make it back down to earth alive. But every time, I learned lessons from making mistakes during previous trips and was able to adapt.
Another example: A few years ago I was helping to launch Virgin America’s new route from San Francisco to Las Vegas -- and upon arriving at our casino hotel, I was taken to the top floor, given a harness and told I was going to jump off the side of the building. It was dark and windy, and I knew I should go back inside and tell everyone we needed to postpone the jump. Instead, I was persuaded to go through with it. The wind was up, and within seconds I found myself banging down the side of the building, ripping my trousers and bruising my backside. It was an extremely painful lesson, learned the hard way. But learning from mistakes (and a combination of good fortune and adrenalin) is what has gotten me through on many occasions.
Overcoming fear is not necessarily as easy as jumping off a building, but it might be easier than what you’ve done: Watching a business fail after putting your heart and soul into trying to make it succeed. But don’t be too hard on yourself. Starting a new enterprise from scratch and gathering the nerve to take risks that are similar to those you took last time can be daunting for any entrepreneur. Just remember that picking yourself up from a failed business in order to try again is the bravest choice you can make.
Let’s hear from other entrepreneurs: Has one of your businesses ever failed? How did you find the courage to try again?
The author is an Entrepreneur contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
Richard Branson is the founder of Virgin Group, which consists of more than 400 companies around the world including Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America and Virgin Mobile. He is the author of six books including his latest, Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won't Teach You at Business School (Portfolio Trade, 2012).
Questions from readers will be answered by Richard Branson in
future columns. Please include your name and country when you send your
question to BransonQuestions@Entrepreneur.com.
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