Change is hard, and no one would argue otherwise. However, change is a part of everyday life and there is no way of avoiding it. Small changes like the weather are usually easier to deal with, but large changes like new schedules, new rules, or new personal goals, can be stressful. Failure is always a potential when it comes to large changes. Often, these larger changes are made to better oneself or to make a change to be more successful in something we are already doing. Many, when they fail at these new changes, find themselves discouraged, thinking negative things about themselves because they failed, and stop trying to be successful at it.
The common belief is success in anything means that one can get through every aspect of the journey without failure. That it is one good moment after another as you get closer and closer to your goal. It is far from that. To be successful, it is more like a winding road rather than a straight path to your goal. There are always bumps in the road, unplanned detours, potentially stepping back to try something again but differently. This is with anything, but we are going to keep this related to health and wellness.
Someone doesn’t get better at eating or stronger overnight; they try something, and it may not work out. All that means is what they tried didn’t work for them, it doesn’t mean that their goal is completely unattainable and no longer in sight. Social media, expectations of others, and more have made it seem like failure is something that only those who are not trying hard enough will experience. We know that to be complete bologna and here is why.
Learning Failure Coping Skills
Failure does not feel good but learning to cope with that feeling teaches you how to bounce back, and stare failure in the eye the next time it comes. Because it will. When one learns how to cope with failure and become less afraid of it, one will be more likely to look out for opportunities that could have a large benefit to you rather than shying away from them. From failure, one can learn to embrace emotions, practice healthy coping skills like calling supports, develop realistic thoughts about failure (like we are trying to do now), and more!
Learn More About Yourself
A study investigated the reflection of events and learning with a group of Israeli soldiers in 2014. To determine if there was a difference in impact on reflecting on failures and successes, the team had one group just focus their reflections on their failures and the other on both failures and successes. Though both teams had positive learning outcomes due to speaking about the experiences, it was found that the team who solely focused on their failures had more learning outcomes and more success in future missions. The research team has been quoted in says “experiencing failure does lead to richer mental models than experiencing success”.
Failure Is a Part of the Learning Curve
When you are learning something new, you are never going to be able to do it successfully the first time. Inventors go through failure after failure of new products and ideas before finding a breakthrough on how they want the item to work on paper to transfer to real life. Nothing new was learned or created in a single sitting. Sometimes it takes repetition and failings to see it take form. Failing during the learning process also helps people feel comfortable outside of their comfort zone.
Failure Can Help You Decide Where You Want to Go Next
When one fails at something, two things commonly occur. Either,
1. The person gives up, OR
2. The person tries again.
Sometimes, failure helps us decide what we want to keep working on and what is the time to stop working on and move in a different direction. That can be in your nutrition, your workout goals, styles of workouts you do, and more.
Failure is Not Always About You
Sometimes, if we fail at something, it has nothing to do with what we are doing. Even though we feel as though failure says things about who we are as a person, the real reason we failed was because of a process, a product, or the objectives did not align with one another.
So, the next time something doesn’t go the way you want it to, you feel like you failed, hopefully, these items will help you bounce back instead of staying down.
We hope this information helps you learn more about why failure is so important for growth! Message us with topics that you would like covered.
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