Failure is a thing we fear. We most fear the idea of failure. We fear the ridicule, we fear the stigma, we fear the pain. Our minds are geared to protect us from this. This is a booby trap because what it does is entrap us. It keeps us in our place. Fear and failure make up the bars to our cell. We all have our reasons why it cannot be done. If someone points out the flaws in our reasoning we will dam them forever or protect our reasons vehemently. For as humans we cannot be wrong in our reasons. To be wrong would be a type of failure. So as you see we are all in a vicious trap.
If you go on line, you will find dozens of clichés celebrating the inevitability of failure and the importance of learning from it. But in real life- and in real companies- failure is loathed. We are afraid of it. We avoid it. We get penalized for it. We learn that if you fail you are a loser, you are no good, you become mocked. Our self esteem goes down and we even get to the point of not trying anymore.
It takes a lot of courage, and drive and many other words to even understand how important failure is to success. Look at any point in your life and you will see your greatest victories came when you took the greatest risks. And yes you could have failed and you may have, before you succeeded
A short quote from Michael Jordan a famous basketball player
"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
If you're not achieving the success you want, chances are you're not failing enough. Mathematically, as long as you're taking calculated risks, the more shots you take the more points you'll score.
While it can be hard to see at the time, lessons learned the hard way are the most valuable.
Some of the “greats” say go for failure. Which obviously means you will be going for success.