Behind Success

Behind every success is a mountain of failures. Each failure informs you in some way. You learn what went well and what did not go well, so you can try a different approach the next time.

Failure has been taught to me, and I suspect majority of others, as a very negative outcome. Having this negativity tied to the result of something causes a fear of that negative outcome actually happening. I can attest that fear of failure has definitely stopped me from attempting things, but I believe that changing how we see failure will liberate us to explore, learn, and find new opportunities without fear.

I recently saw a TEDx Talk about how to trick your brain to learn more. Mark Rober explains that we can change how we see failures through the “Super Mario Effect.” He likens setbacks in real life to setbacks in video games. When you fall down a pit in Super Mario, you learn that you need to jump farther at that spot. You try again, excited to reach the next level. By applying this same view in real life, we can trick our brain to want to keep trying when we fail.

I fully agree with his message, and I believe it applies to more than just learning. What this really boils down to is changing your connotation of failure. Instead of feeling dejected from failure, imagine it as taking one step towards your dreams. It is necessary, and with each failure you get closer and closer. With this view, failure is no longer scary. It becomes a part of success. Instead of deterring you, failures will lead you to success. Changing how you see failure is as simple as changing your thoughts.

An excellent example of failures leading to success is in parkour. Toby Segar, a member of the very popular Storror group, explains that with every attempt to do a jump you gain little bits of information. You build confidence. You tweak your approach. You keep trying until you land it just perfectly. Behind every impressive ten second parkour clip is a mountain of failures to get to that point.

To summarize, failure is a necessary part for success, and we can remove the fear of failure by changing how we view it. What will you accomplish without fears holding you back?