It’ll rarely feel like it in the moment, but failures are our friends. They encourage us to learn, grow, and understand ourselves better. Here are some reasons to love and appreciate your failures:
1. Failures show us what we really want.
Have you ever gotten rejected from a job and instead of feeling disappointed, actually felt super relieved? Or had a client cancel and had it feel like a gut punch? These feelings can help us see how we truly felt about something and guide us on our next steps. Should we be thinking about changing direction completely, or do we want to double down?
2. Failures help us build a tolerance.
The first time you go to the gym is HARD. The tenth time is still pretty tough, but not as hard. The hundredth time? Just another gym sesh.
The more we try, and the more we fail, the less sensitive to failure we become. This makes us more willing to fail, and in turn, more willing to take a shot on things we might shy away from when we’re failure sensitive.
3. Failures move us forward.
You can’t fail without trying, and every single time you try, you move closer to the time it works out. You learn what works, and what doesn’t. You figure out what feels good to you, what you can tolerate and what you can’t. Failure is one of the best teachers you can have as long as you’re willing to learn.