We have read and celebrated many success stories, but have we dived deeper and ever looked into the number of failures it took to build up that one success in life? Remember the first time you may have fallen off the cycle? Or that time when you failed an exam? Or burning your first batch of cookies?
I am 110% sure that if failure were a subject in school, we would all pass with flying colors, complete with glitter confetti and a slow-motion montage of tripping over shoelaces, spilling drinks over books, faceplanting along the way, and collecting certificates and awards of “The Oops Master” or “The Graceful Tripper”, and to the less lucky kids an “A+ for effort”. Think of failure as the world’s most personal masterclass. Think about J.K.Rowling collecting multiple rejection letters before The World Famous Harry Potter, or Thomas Alva Edison’s ten thousand tests and a thousand failed attempts before creating the light bulb, or Walt Disney being fired from his job for lacking imagination, but ironically went on to build the entire Disney Universe based purely on his imagination. See the pattern? It’s like failure is saying, “ PLOT TWIST! TRY AGAIN”.
Hollywood and the business world, too, are filled with such success stories, as seen in the case of Robert Downey Jr. He was written off for many years due to time mismanagement and personal struggles before landing the role of Marvel’s famous Iron Man. And Elon Musk faced near bankruptcy with SpaceX and Tesla before they blew up. And this story is not just global; we have witnessed it right here, too. Take Amitabh Bachchan, the “Big B” or the “Shehenshah” of Bollywood. Amit Ji faced criticism and rejection for his deep voice; now, he is the most loved actor in India, and maybe even globally. Shah Rukh Khan came to Mumbai with no connections and several flops early in his career, yet he grew into the “ King of Bollywood.” Dhirubhai Ambani started with a tiny textile shop and faced multiple difficulties and setbacks before creating the Reliance Group.
Have you ever looked at little children when they learn how to crawl and walk? They stumble and fall at every step they take; they may even cry a little, but they don’t ever give up on trying to walk. Their motivation might be just to reach for a toy or to reach their parents. And they don’t just randomly start walking one day; it takes days, weeks, or even months. They might be lying on the floor or sitting in a baby seat, but they are fascinated with the movements around them. Even the movement of a pet around the house, or any object being moved around, they learn those movements and try to replicate them; this method is called vicarious learning, or learning by observation and imitation. The children, too, have many oops moments, like accidentally wetting the bed in their sleep. They may be embarrassed, but they do try to get over it and gain control of their body requirements over time. If the children don’t give up, then why do we? Why are we afraid to own up to our “Oops” moments? Why do we get embarrassed? Why do we hate being judged for our oops? Our oops may define us, but how we overcome them and learn from them matters more. We should be carefree and ignore the critiques of society, and then we will realise we have a lot of cheerleaders waiting for us to be free birds, just waiting to capture the moments of our success. These people beam with happiness at the news of our success, and we should work hard for them.
Each oops works like the experience points or “XP” gained in video games; it is the extra wisdom unlocked for your next attempt, and hey, at least they are proof of you leveling up in life. Think of your brain giving you pointers, like a non-player character, providing instructions: +10 XP for resilience, +5 XP for creativity, and +2 XP for patience (ouch). As Einstein has famously hinted, “anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” And like Thomas A. Edison says, “ I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Every Failure Hands You a Personal Report Card
‘What did you try? What worked? What didn’t work? How can you do it differently next time?’ That is failure, which grades you in the best way. Also, referring back to the example of the cookies, failure taught you patience and to double-check, or maybe even triple-check, the oven the next time you decide to bake cookies. Missing a bus teaches time management and planning. Spilling something on your shirt teaches you to keep an extra pair of clothes and to think quickly. Tripping in public teaches humility and how to recover gracefully. Failing a DIY project teaches patience, problem-solving, improvisation, and sometimes creativity.
So here is a little cheat code in life: treat every failure like a level of a mini game, and imagine yourself as the main character of the game. Take lessons from life, mess up as much as you want, but don’t ever give up, pick yourself up, blow away the dust, and press that restart button in life. Write down what you have learned, apply it, and most of all, don’t be afraid to try again. That is a sure recipe to set yourself up for success. Embrace your stumbles, cherish the missteps and the falls, collect your XP. Because every failure, no matter how big or small, is a step closer to mastery, a trademark of resilience, and passing the final level in life. This serves as proof that life’s greatest lessons often come from the moments we least expect. And as Mr. Ratan Tata once said, “Take the stones people throw at you and use them to build a monument.” Take this chance to turn your setbacks into opportunities rather than letting them defeat you. Be the love you never received.
