Nobody likes to fail. It can be embarrassing, hard, and a blow to your precious ego. And doesn’t it always seem like when you fail everybody can see it—unlike when you succeed and you’re often looking around going “Oh now nobody is watching?”
How annoying.
But failure happens. You think you’re capable of doing something unaided, or you decide to give something new a try, and things just don’t go as you’d hoped.
My favorite basketball coach of all time, John Wooden, said “Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be.” This might be one of the truest things he’s ever said.
It is so important to remember you are going to fail. A lot. Sometimes it’ll be epic, but the key is to take those failures, admit your mistakes, ask for help, and then go and make changes so the next time you might be a little more successful. The key to failure is changing, improving, and being resilient about your growth.
So next time you try (and fail) to build that thing, cook something delicious, or win a race, remember—you just got better for next time.