Failure is often seen as a setback, but it is a vital stepping stone in both personal and professional growth. It forces us to face our shortcomings, readjust and think bigger. Though it is difficult and sometimes hurtful to experience failure, the lessons we learn along the way are worth it. Plus, it adds to your lore and gives you thick skin. How can you beat that? You can’t.
I used to struggle with perfectionism. Any time I failed or at least believed that I did, it felt like the end of the world for me. My emotional responses would always be heavy and filled with negative self-talk that didn’t make it any better for me.
The trick to combating perfectionism is all in your perspective. Failure is an option and, in my opinion, it’s a necessary one. Life has ups and downs. You will aim high and fall short. You will try to win and lose. You will try to get things right and end up wrong. That’s life.
Perfectionism turns the inevitable into the impossible, in the sense that it blinds us from seeing that we won’t always need to succeed in our pursuit for achievement. We end up sabotaging ourselves by refusing to accept that something might go wrong, even if it’s likely that a negative outcome will occur.
You have to plan to fail, if you want to succeed. It’s as simple as that. If you accept this reality, then you are less likely to be discouraged after a setback or two. Whereas if you do not acknowledge the possibility of failure, when something does fall through, so will your hopes and motivation.
A lack of hope and motivation kills dreams and passions. Without those two things, you will never chase after your goals, which means you will end up settling for the life you are given instead of the life that you want. Navigating life without hope is a vicious journey, there is no growth to be found there.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to not only continue to try after failing, but also to reframe your mindset on failure. It is not anything to fear or loathe; you should welcome it with a warm embrace. It’s there to birth a new version of yourself that is wiser and more adaptable.
Success and failure cannot live without one another. Besides, isn’t success much sweeter when you know that you worked from the ground up and didn’t give up on yourself? There is an instant self-esteem boost that success gives you when you have had to fight through failures.
Failure should never be the end goal, but it should be seen as a step in the right direction. Every pitfall provides valuable insights so that we can refine our approaches. Instead of avoiding or fearing failure, we should see it as a necessary part of our journey and a moment to pause, reflect and continue to chase our goals.
To quote one of my childhood heroes, Hannah Montana, “life’s a climb, but the view’s great.”
Amyri Jones is a 22-year-old digital advertising and religious studies senior from Baton Rouge, La.
