Failure is Always an Option

“If you couldn’t fail, what would you do?” was a recent question presented to me. I do admit lots of things crossed my mind, like starting a new business, or participate in various ventures. Yet, after giving it some serious thought, I had more questions than answers. This simple question made me think about failure and success and how we could not have one without the other.

I eventually formulated the answer, “I would take more risks, and increase my likelihood of failure!”

After seriously considering this question, I realized that failure is always an option. If there is no possibility of failure, then how would I gauge my successes? How much did I achieve, or how risky were the milestones that I passed on my road to success.

It’s like traveling from one end of the country to the other. Unless you understand the concept of distance, and know how far a mile or kilometer is, you can not easily describe the distance you traveled. Failures never realized are like those mile markers. They mark the distance you have traveled on your road to success. But unless you see them, you will not know how far you have traveled.

Many people set goals for success, yet subconsciously assume they will fail. They sabotage their own plans from within by not doing enough planning or making too many assumptions. As a result, they continue to fail, which subconsciously is a success to them as that is what they assumed would happen.

Therefore, if you find yourself in a situation where you always succeeded, then it is safe to say that you have set your goals too low. You are taking the safe road in everything you do. You are choosing to settle for small successes all the time.

However, the type of success that most people dream about can only be achieved by taking on the realization of possible failure; Failure on a grand scale.

A simple example of this would be a marathon. If my goal is to complete the marathon regardless of where I place, I can come in dead last and still succeed. If I want to improve my placement, I need to set a goal that will set me up for failure, such as first place. If I come in second, have I failed?

Not Really. I failed at coming in first, but I succeed in my goal of improving my position from last place.

The same holds true in other areas of your life including business. If you only perform business that is safe, with very little or no risk, then it is likely you will finish dead last in everything you do, but safe in the knowledge that you finished the proverbial marathon.

If however, you truly desire to set higher goals, then failure is an option that you must address and by doing so you can minimize the adverse affects of any failures encountered.

The possibility of failure is a great motivator, and is often the driving force for success. There are many successful people in the world. As outsiders we look at their successes and think that if we could always succeed as they do, there would be no stopping us. But the truth is we are only looking at those individuals’ successes, not at the countless failures they have endured to get where they are today.

To paraphrase an old adage, the road to success is paved with failure. It is what we do with those failures that determine our true nature. We can learn from our past failures, and use the information gained to guide us to future successes, or we can ignore them and consider the time and effort wasted and continue to chase that thing called success.

You can not have success without the possibility of failure. They go hand in hand.

Success is never guaranteed, but if you minimize risk by setting your goals to low, you may never know great success.