7 Beautiful, Inspirational Lessons You Learn From Failure

You learn how to pick yourself up again. Every single person on this planet has endured failure. It’s not how many times you fail that matter. It’s how many times you pick yourself up off the floor and try again. It’s how resilient you are at heart. It’s how capable you are of bouncing back after a setback. Remember, no one succeeds on their first try. It takes trial and error. It takes growth and discovery. Failing isn’t the end of the world – but giving up on yourself, assuming it’s pointless to try again, that would be the real tragedy.

You learn how badly you want to reach your dreams. Some people would have given up after their first failure, but you are still going. You aren’t giving up. You’ve proven to yourself (and to the rest of the world) how much you want this. Otherwise, you would have called it quits a long time ago to live an easier life.

You learn to trust yourself. You might be the only person in the world who believes in your dream. You might not have many people in your corner yet because you’re still close to the starting line. Even though it’s helpful to surround yourself with supportive people, it’s most important for you to believe in yourself. For you to remember why you’re doing this – because it’s what you love. Because it’s what makes you happy. Even when you fail, no one can take away the joy your passion brings you. No one can stop you from pursuing what you feel like you were meant to do.  

You learn how to increase your odds next time. Failure can be a learning experience. It can teach you what you’ve done wrong and how you can improve in the future. It can be an important tool that strengthens you and pushes you in the right direction.

You learn that some things are outside of your control. Sometimes, the world is unfair. Sometimes, your failure has nothing to do with you. Sometimes, you can do everything right and still get screwed over in the end. Although failure might feel worse when it wasn’t actually your fault, it’s a reminder that you aren’t always to blame.

You learn to enjoy the journey instead of focusing on the destination. Even when you fail, that doesn’t mean your hard work was a waste. Did you have fun along the way? Did you create something that makes you proud? Then there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes, the journey matters more than the destination.  

You learn how to cope with disappointment. You’re not emotionless. Even though you know failure is nothing to be embarrassed about, you won’t be able to brush it off automatically. You won’t be able to see silver linings the second that it happens. You’re going to spend some time upset. You’re going to be in your feelings for a while. And that’s okay. Life is going to have ups and downs. You need to learn how to navigate through your hurt feelings, how to handle rejection, how to fail gracefully. Remember, failure doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the road. It only means your road is a little longer than you initially hoped.