Failure Is Not The Problem
April 19, 2025
Failure itself is not the problem. It’s what you do after the failure that matters.
Many people resist doing something new because of a fear of failure. And then there are those who have the solution to that fear that tell us failure is a good thing because we learn from it. We learn what not to do. I somewhat disagree with this line of thought.
We should be concerned about failure. We can learn from it. But, it is something to avoid, not something to embrace. Embracing the failure should come after it happens and never before it happens. As entrepreneurs the fear of failure is a real thing.
But we have to realize there is no one shooting at us, our business failure is not going to kill us and as long as we haven’t done anything illegal, failing in business will not put us in prison.
But there is a great stigma associated with failure, probably more in business than anything else.
So you should ask yourself- Am I afraid of failing or am I afraid of what people will think about me if I fail?
Because here is a hard truth about that- No one really cares!
In five years no one will remember your failure unless you give up on your dreams and decide you would rather just go get a job than try to make it as an entrepreneur.
If you fail and go back and try again, and try again, and try again and succeed people will applaud you for being persistent and never giving up. Some will even call you an overnight success even though it took you five or ten years of persistence. Why?
Because when you fail and try again they will forgive your failures.
And when you succeed they will quickly forget the failures.
I can’t think of one person who is known for their failures unless there is a success afterward. The story about Thomas Edison and his thousands of failed attempts to create a light bulb comes to mind. Is that what he is known for? No. He is known for the successes that came after. No one cares about the failures of other people. They care about the successes.
Because- Failure itself is not the problem. It’s what you do after the failure that matters.