How to Bounce Back From Failure

Let’s face the facts. Let’s face the brutal truth. You are going to fail.  You are going to lose. Or at the very least you are going to experience failing and losing if you are challenging yourself enough. 


The simple truth is that if you have dedicated yourself to achieving exceptional levels of achievement and exceptional levels of performance then you have chosen to expose yourself to far higher possibilities of failure or loss.So the first step in bouncing back from failure is to realise that you have chosen to put yourself into situations where you could lose.  You have chosen to challenge yourself.  You have chosen to test yourself and your abilities in this demanding way.The majority of people do not have the courage to place themselves into such challenging and demanding situations. They prefer to play it safe; they aren’t brave enough to take the risk. Such people are also often characterised by their eagerness to criticise the performance of those that are brave enough to challenge themselves! It is very easy to criticise someone’s performance. It is not so easy to have the bravery and courage to step outside of your comfort zone yourself.


You have chosen to test yourself, to challenge yourself, to seek victory and achievement. In doing so you have the courage to place yourself into situations where you may experience failure.


On the path to achieving mastery in your chosen field it is inevitable that if you are challenging yourself and your abilities sufficiently, that you will face challenges and setbacks.  High achievers know that this is the price you pay for achieving any significant success. 


You have chosen to place yourself into a situation where you may experience failure.  You can also choose how you wish to manage losing or failure - if it occurs.  You could choose to get angry and frustrated with yourself, or to moan and whine.  Or you could choose to view such events as a positive and good thing.  A positive and good thing! How can failure be a positive and good thing?

If you have chosen to achieve exceptional levels of performance and achieve mastery in your chosen field then you have made a long term (perhaps even a lifetime) commitment to improving yourself and your abilities on an on-going basis.  You have chosen to challenge, stretch and develop yourself.  Without this you would not be growing as a human being.

Therefore it does not make sense to get frustrated and angry with the very setbacks that you yourself have invited through your chosen commitment!  You need to learn to welcome and even enjoy the challenges and the setbacks, for in this way you will truly learn.

Simon Hazeldine